Thatch and debris can be common problems on football pitches but Glen Campbell, academy head groundsman at The Academy of Light, has found a way to clean up his act.

Using a Votex VT420 compact vacuum sweeper supplied through Greenlay our dealer for the North East, Glen maintains clean surfaces at the UEFA five star training facility for all of the Black Cat’s academy players and first team.

Although the centre opened in 2003 the Votex has only been on the site for 18 months and has now become an important part of the maintenance programme, operating at specific times during the season across his pitches as Glenn explains.

“We use the Votex a lot at this time of year because there’s a lot of debris coming off the surface, so we use it a lot from now until November time,” he began.

“But we also use it during the renovations to pick up any debris that has been left after koro-ing, and again from March to the end of the season to pick up the thatch and debris that’s flicked up by the players football boots.”

The impressive suction power and low overall weight of the Votex has been a real improvement for Glenn giving a much cleaner operation and lower surface impact.

“It does a great job, we had a different machine before which was good but this is even better,” he said.

“There’s a lot more power to this one and it leaves a really good finish on the surface.

“The wheels are a lot wider and the machine is lighter as well so there are no tracks left or compaction of the surface which is very important.

“We have to make sure the pitch is soft for the players to prevent stress injuries so it works very well in that respect as well.”

For the full range of equipment from Campey Turf Care Systems visit www.campeyturfcare.comFor the full range of equipment from Campey Turf Care Systems visit www.campeyturfcare.com