PITCH perfect Adam Witchell came within a whisker of being honoured as of the best groundsmen in the country but he’s nonetheless delighted after finishing as the runner-up in a national FA award.

After being named Groundsman of the Year at the Wiltshire FA Awards in July, the 33-year-old, who is head groundsman at the Beversbrook Sports Facility in Calne, was shortlisted for the national award for Groundsman of the Year for step seven of the National League System and below.

On Wednesday, August 12, Witchell was invited up to St George’s Park in Burton, the FA’s national football centre, and was given a behind-the-scenes tour of the state-of-the-art facility by head groundsman Alan Ferguson.

Ferguson also spoke at the subsequent awards ceremony, where Calne’s Witchell was named as the runner-up in his award category.

“I didn’t win but it was still fantastic to be nominated and I guess I’ll just have to try and win it next year,” said Witchell.

“After winning the Wiltshire FA award, people could vote for me for this one and enough people voted to get me there.

“We got shown around St George’s Park by Alan Ferguson and were shown everything that they do there. It was great to see that the things they do there are the same as what we do at Beversbrook, like the testing of the pitch and data recovery.

“The award was for things below the level of the Isthmian League but we’re different because we’re a council facility and we’ve got 14 pitches to tend to.

“Swindon Town are training here now too and it’s nice to see that people appreciate what we do here.”

Witchell has worked at Beversbrook for five years and the 94-acre site has twice been nominated as the IOG (Institute of Groundsmanship) Grass Roots Sports Ground of the Year, winning in 2013 and finishing as the runner-up last year.

In June, League One Swindon Town signed a three-year deal to train at the Calne-based facility.