'Constant evolution': Portsmouth training ground lined up for 'significant' summer improvements
The Blues’ Copnor Road home is undergoing fresh work - in addition to Fratton Park £1.5m pitch project
Pompey’s training ground is scheduled for more ‘significant’ work this summer in the ongoing drive to improve facilities.
Last pre-season saw the Blues’ two first-team pitches and a training area relaid, in addition to the installation of new pitch irrigation to boost drainage.
According to head groundsman Dan Mellor, not a single day’s training was lost to wet weather this season as a consequence of the essential work at their Copnor Road base.
Additional pitch refurbishment is also taking place this season, with extensive work including reseeding all three playing surfaces, plus the Academy pitch.
And with a £1.5m pitch project also taking place at Fratton Park, it promises to be a busy summer for Mellor and his hard-working ground staff.
‘We have more significant work to carry out’
He told The News: ‘We have some significant work at the training ground on the first-team pitches. It’s a similar size to the project last summer.
‘We’re actually on the point of seeding the first-team pitches. We are just finishing that project, then next week are scheduled to start work on the Academy pitch on the far side of the site.
‘Obviously the timeline for the training ground is a lot shorter than the stadium, considering the team will be returning towards the end of June for pre-season, testing and training.
‘This is a continuation from the work we were doing last summer on the training ground. We are constantly evaluating with the coaches and the ownership of the club where we can make improvements in the facilities for the players.
‘We’re in our third year of working with our pitch contractors White Horse, so they are well up to speed with both sites now, which is a great advantage. They are working on the stadium reconstruction and the summer renovation at the training ground.
‘We have more significant work to carry out on the first-team pitch nearest to the building, then we are working on the other one.
‘Part of it is standard renovation, renewing the surface every year, involving taking off the top of the surface. The reason why we do that every season is because we want to have stability and durability.
‘At the level we’re operating at, it’s standard practice to clean off the pitches of all the organic material every summer, so you are starting from a fresh base each season.’
Spent part of last pre-season at a Teddington hotel
Last pre-season, due to the necessity to allow the newly-laid training pitches six weeks to grow, Pompey initially switched full training to The Lensbury hotel, in Teddington, Middlesex.
The 25-acre site situated along the banks of the River Thames was the Blues’ home for three days, before returning to Hilsea.
However, this time around, Mellor expects the Blues’ training ground pitches to be available in time for the start of pre-season - weather permitting.
The head groundsman added: ‘Every off-season for the last three years we have been doing drainage works. We’ve had great support from the club in terms of cap-ex projects to improve drainage across the site - and that continues.
‘We didn’t lose any sessions last season to waterlogged pitches. There was one day where we had to cover for frost, but that was all.
‘It’s a constant evaluation of where we need to improve. We’ve made great steps, great strides, in the last 2-3 years in terms of the infrastructure of the training ground.
‘We are seeding this week, it will be a six-week growing period for the pitches. The plan is that, when the players return towards the end of June, the training ground will be fully available for them to play on.
‘We’re not expecting them to train elsewhere at the start of pre-season like last year. Although obviously that is a variable with the weather.’
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