A free Football Foundation website portal is building a ‘Groundskeeping Community’ which is supporting volunteers and qualified groundskeepers to maintain pitches.

Developed in partnership with The FA and the Grounds Management Association (formerly the Institute of Groundsmanship), it’s the first of several support tools to help ground staff meet their grass pitch improvement targets. It features a welcome message from Karl Standley, Head Groundsman at Wembley Stadium, and the collaborative space is:

* building knowledge of key operations for pitch maintenance throughout the year
* connecting with fellow groundskeepers and share experiences
* seeking expert advice on getting the most from the pitches groundskeepers manage

Throughout the football season, videos and news articles will be posted related to pitch improvement and local content can be shared promoting the work which is currently being delivered. Many groundskeepers and FA Regional Pitch Advisors already interact.

The Grounds Management Association will be providing a link to the facility on any site visit report and they’ll be adding any information clubs and volunteers will find useful as the website develops. Visitors are also invited to post anything they think may have been missed so a groundskeeping community can be built for collective benefit.

Click here to join the Groundskeeping Community! Once registered, the Hive Learning app for iOS or Android is the easiest way to access the community on the go. Grassroots football information is also available in the menus above, by following @EssexCountyFA on Twitter and by searching for ‘EssexFootball’ on Facebook.