The EFL Grounds Teams of the 2021/22 Season has been revealed for each of the three divisions, so scroll ahead to see who has won.
The last few years has been challenging for all clubs in relation to their pitches but, as ever, ground staff have produced some superb work.
Carrying out a tremendously important job to prepare their respective pitches for matches and maintain them throughout the calendar, things were made more difficult due to the lack of time to carry out pitch maintenance and renovations at the end of the 19/20 season, along with the intense fixture schedule following the outbreak of Covid in March 2020 with a number of cases rising and falling up to present day.
As the 2021/22 campaign draws to a close, grounds teams up and down the country have been recognised for their continued commitment and efforts.
AFC Bournemouth, Bolton Wanderers and Newport County have been named 2021/22 Grounds Teams of the Season in the EFL.
🌱 @afcbournemouth have been named the #SkyBetChampionship 2021/22 Grounds Teams of the Season!#EFL
— Sky Bet Championship (@SkyBetChamp) May 6, 2022
🏟️ @OfficialBWFC have been awarded the 2021/22 Grounds Teams of the Season for the #SkyBetLeagueOne!#EFL
— Sky Bet League One (@SkyBetLeagueOne) May 6, 2022
👏 @NewportCounty have won the #SkyBetLeagueTwo 2021/22 Grounds Teams of the Season!#EFL
— Sky Bet League Two (@SkyBetLeagueTwo) May 6, 2022
Grounds Teams up and down the country have worked tirelessly this campaign to maintain pitches across all 72 of the EFL’s clubs and the Grounds Teams of the Season awards recognise the staff who have produced the best quality playing surfaces in each division.
Pitch marks are provided by the referee and away team manager for all EFL League matches. The top Clubs from each division with the highest divisional average are then visited by Neil Rodger, from STRI (Sports Turf Research Institute), where further assessments are carried out, which cover pitch quality, environmental conditions and usage, resources, management and sustainability.
Once all club visits have taken place, in-depth reports and recommendations are submitted to the Playing Surfaces Committee, at which point winners are determined.
The winners of each division will receive a trophy and certificate.
Highly Commended Clubs will receive a certificate.
Here are this season’s winners:
Sky Bet Championship
Grounds Team of the Season – AFC Bournemouth
Highly Commended – Middlesbrough
Highly Commended – Nottingham Forest
Sky Bet League One
Grounds Team of the Season – Bolton Wanderers
Highly Commended – Ipswich Town
Highly Commended – Lincoln City
Sky Bet League Two
Grounds Team of the Season – Newport County
Highly Commended – Bradford City
Highly Commended – Exeter City
Highly Commended – Tranmere Rovers
Additional information:
MARKING SYSTEM
Pitch marks are provided by the referee and away team manager for all EFL League matches. The three Clubs from each division with the highest divisional average are then visited by Neil Rodger from the Sports Turf Research Institute where further assessments are carried out, which cover pitch quality, environmental conditions and usage and resources and management.Once all club visits have taken place, in-depth reports and recommendations are submitted to the Playing Surfaces Committee, at which point winners are determined. The winners of each division will receive a trophy and certificate.Highly Commended Clubs will receive a certificate
Twitter users reacted as EFL Grounds Teams of the 2021/22 Season are revealed…
@fraserdan74: As a Bournemouth fan who sits near as makes no difference pitch side, don’t think we deserve this. On far too many occasions the pitch has been so wet that you see clumps of water coming up when players pass/make tackles even if it’s a bone dry day
@J03PT: @CardiffCityFC robbed as per
@NFFC_UBPodcast: Why is it always teams that receive parachute payments that win the big awards like this? 😤😡
@AfcbAdam: Here come the forrest fans
@Chris_CA2 on Newport: Come a long way since that mud bath they called a pitch to be fair to them.
@TommyG___ on Bolton: Absolute carpet
@stfchewitt: @B_and_A_Fanzine geez and we didn’t get a commended.. thought our playing surface was fantastic this year… 😳
@ScottKeaton32 on Bolton: Rightly so…👏
@ppainsworth: Magnificent pitch for the last game v Fleetwood, as it was for the first v MK Dons. 👏👏👏. #bwfc
@htownhero_ on Bolton: Fully deserved looked 10/10 all season
@mxcatt on Bolton: Great news. The ground staff should be proud, beautiful pitch.
@TDoe42_ on Newport: Show this to any side that played there before 2020 and they’ll laugh for every blade of synthetic grass that sits there now
@BwfcGoals: Well deserved 👏👏 #bwfc
@NCAFCOscar: Better than promotion that
@Stesmith1992: Evatt did say we had the best team in the division, didn’t specify which team at the club 😉😂 #bwfc
@SkhTrains: Could play Snooker on our pitch, it’s immaculate #bwfc
@davielloydNpton: Thought ntfc would at least have an honourable mention
Robbed pic.twitter.com/hjpRJ2GpxG
— Ceiron Wesley🏴 (@wesley_ceiron18) May 6, 2022
To be fair the standard of pitches in L2 has been exceptional this season so well done to all groundsmen and of course Newport County 👏 pic.twitter.com/h7N5NKt78O
— Dan Maguire (@EvilMing77) May 6, 2022
I must say, I was really surprised how good the pitch was when I visited in March
Top work 👏👏👏 pic.twitter.com/DSwQ1vTy1v
— Ryan Griffin (@ryangriffin89) May 6, 2022
EFL Grounds Teams of the 2020/21 Season winners
Championship
Grounds Team of the Season – Watford
Highly Commended – AFC Bournemouth
Highly Commended- Stoke City
League One
Grounds Team of the Season – Doncaster Rovers
Highly Commended – Plymouth Argyle
Highly Commended – Portsmouth
Highly Commended – Shrewsbury Town
League Two
Grounds Team of the Season – Forest Green Rovers
Highly Commended – Carlisle United
Highly Commended – Cheltenham Town
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