"When somebody can say to you 'the pitch looks good Bob' that means everything."
Weston AFC groundsman Bob Flaskett is talking about the messages he receives when preparing the pitch at The Optima Stadium.
He has been with Weston AFC since arriving in the summer of 2004 from Weston St Johns after agreeing to help chairman Paul Bliss.
He spends most of his days, and his time is varied, hour upon hour at BS24, and through his hard work the pitch is in picturesque condition, thus making it a wonderful spectacle for the two sides that enter into battle.
Flaskett works all year round, including Christmas Day at times if the Seagulls are home on Boxing Day and usually the day after the game to prepare it for the one straight after.
This Saturday sees the first home game of the Southern Premier South season with Gosport Borough being Weston's first visitors, before Yate Town arrive three days later.
And Flaskett says he still gets a lot of enjoyment by ensuring the pitch is in fantastic shape for everyone who comes to Weston.
“I get a lot of pleasure from it, trying to produce a surface for our players to play on and it’s good for the manager (Scott Bartlett), the team and the club,” he told Weston Mercury Sport.
“There is a lot of hard work that goes into it. People come along and see the surface, we play a game of football and it’s a day’s work.
“I go through a procedure. It’s a days work to get it back and then you need about two days recovery before you play on it ideally.”
Another busy year is in store for Flaskett, who will work on at least 21 home league games, not including cup matches, as well as a number of teams involved with the club.
These include the under-19s, who compete in the Conference League, the A side, which compete sin the Floodlight League, both the Ladies and walking football set-up as well as all the sides in the academy.
Flaskett also maintains the 3G, which has to be brushed twice a week on a regular basis to keep it fresh.
If not maintained the lifespan diminishes and Flaskett says it’s important for everyone at the club to come to a place where they can play their football in the best conditions possible.
“I don’t have to be here at eight and finish at five o’clock,” he added.
“A groundsman's job is not like that. You know what your weekly agenda is going to be because it’s not just obviously the main stadium, we have got a 3G surface, then we have got five acres of playing surfaces over the back.
“They have all got to be cut, rolled, marked and prepared and you fit it together like a jigsaw puzzle really.
“You’ve got to do it for everyone, the best you can do, even at the back on our other pitches.
“We’ve got a full size pitch at the back that is a very good pitch indeed. It is one of the best around here for local football then we have got a nine-v-nine, which I basically created out of a cabbage patch!
“That’s not too bad and it’s always cut nice and rolled and marked out which is good for the kids, so they are not playing really on bad pitches. They are all pretty good.”
As for the future Flaskett said he still plans to keep "enjoying it" and says he is taken aback by the messages he receives for his work on the pitch.
He also passed on his thanks to all he has met along the way who have supported him every step of the way.
“I want to keep going, I don’t want to pack it in and then fester at home,” he said.
“I want to keep going as long as the club are happy with me, then I’m happy with what I’m doing. If I can’t do the job properly then I will decide to hang my boots up.
“Until then (I will) just keep going, keep enjoying it, meeting new people and learning new things.
“(I’m) still learning about what to do with the football pitch. It’s a little bit technical than it was years ago.”
He added: “Thank you to everyone who has supported me either at Weston St Johns or Weston. I know all the people, I know all the supporters.
“I’ve got a good rapport with the supporters and I thank them for supporting me, saying nice things (and) putting things online about the pitch and that’s great.
“When somebody can say to you “the pitch looks good Bob” that means everything. It’s only words and it’s easy to say those words but it means such a lot to me."
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