THE Oxford University groundstaff who tended to Oxford United’s Kassam Stadium pitch last season – and came in for heavy criticism – were named runners-up in the Conference Groundsman of the Year awards.

The awards are decided annually by the FA, and Oxford finished second to Cambridge United.

Those working on the pitch at the Kassam Stadium received much flak following the postponement of the Boxing Day match against Rushden – one of the biggest money-spinners of the season – because parts of the surface were still frozen, and then later when the pitch was widely considered to be in its poorest state for years.

But the groundstaff said that was because of the severe winter, and pitches up and down the country were similarly affected.

Last year was the first full year that the University’s ground staff were employed by holding company Firoka to maintain the playing surface at the Kassam Stadium. Previously the company had directly employed a groundsman to take on this responsibility.

Dick Sula, University of Oxford’s senior grounds manager, said: “Last winter is considered to be one of the worst for over 20 years and all grounds suffered throughout the country, which made it all the more challenging for our first year at the Kassam.

“It is subsequently really rewarding for the staff to hear that the FA has formally recognised the quality of the pitch despite the problems.

“The main stand side of the pitch does not see much sunshine and with the heavy snow that fell on and off from January onwards and sub-zero temperatures, this area was at times visibly in poorer condition than the rest of the pitch and remains a problem wet area.

“However, this would have been far worse had it not been for the dedicated work of my groundstaff.”

Jon Roycroft, director of sport for the University, added: “My staff, who are die-hard U’s fans, have worked extremely hard on this pitch over the season and given the unfair criticism they received at times, this is very much an award and thanks for them.

“It is an unusual arrangement where we are not employed by the club (Oxford United), but by the holding company, so it’s not as straightforward as you would find at other Conference and league grounds, which makes the award even more special.”

The grounds team have been invited to attend the award winners’ day at Wembley in early September to receive the trophy and tour the stadium.