Everton's Goodison Head Groundsman Retires After 38 Years

There are places he'll remember ...

For a man whose surname is Lennon, The Beatles' classic In My Life is particularly poignant today.

Because at 5pm this evening Bob Lennon, Goodison's Head Groundsman and permanent presence throughout four decades of eventful Everton history, ends a 38-year association with the Football Club.

Bob, 66, has devoted almost his entire working life to painstakingly preparing the pitches of Bellefield and Goodison Park.

But today, 38 years after he first stepped through the Bellefield training ground gates, he will hang up his hoe and park up his mower for good.

Looking out this morning on the turf he has meticulously tended for almost four decades - currently covered in a fine spread of sand to enable drainage for next season - he said: "How do I feel? A bit pensive. I knew this day has been coming for the past 12 weeks. But I've got no regrets. I think it's my time to finish now.  I think I've done more than what I should have done really!

"My wife Carole asked me how I was this morning and I just said 'it's like another chapter in your book of life.'

"You're born and you have your first chapter, you go to school which is another, you finish school and then you start work and that's another chapter gone.

"This is the end of one chapter, a very big chapter mind! But as I say, tomorrow's another page, another chapter.

"You can't look back, you just look forwards. It's been an absolute joy working with people here. It's been more like a hobby than a job because you come into work whistling and it doesn't make a difference if it's pouring down with rain or snowing.

"When I was at Bellefield you'd be having banter with Colin Harvey, Howard Kendall, Terry Darracott, Paul Power and all the players, people like Ian Snodin, Neville Southall, all great characters."

Bob worked closely with a succession of Everton managers.

Everton have had 22 different individuals in that role since Theo Kelly was first given the title after the Second World War, and Bob has worked for 14 of them - 19 if caretakers are included!

His reply is instant when asked who was the most demanding.

"Colin Harvey," he replied with a smile.

"He was an absolute diamond but he was very demanding. So, so professional."

Bob had worked for Liverpool City Council as a horticulturist before joining the Bellefield groundstaff in 1988, and Everton legend Harvey was his first manager.

"At the council I was doing trees, I was doing rock gardens, water features, everything, grass was just a side issue," he explained.

"But at Everton it was everything. It was so stressful because in that environment you couldn't say 'we'll do that tomorrow' it had to be done right then.

"If I'd said to Colin Harvey or Howard Kendall, 'I'll cut that pitch tomorrow.' they'd say 'No lad, I want it done now. I've got multi million pound players playing on that pitch, I want it done now.' That's the way it was."

There were also some manager's personal preferences to take into account.

Early in Glasgow Rangers' legend Walter Smith's tenure as Everton boss, Bob quickly discovered the depth of the sectarian divide in Scotland.

"I'd decided to mow the Goodison pitch in circles, rather than lines or diagonals," smiled Bob. "It was before we played Leeds at home and the pitch looked beautiful.

"But Walter turned up on match day, stared at it and said to me 'What's this Bob?'

"Apparently it was the same way Celtic Park was mowed and as a Rangers man he hated it!

"He told me that if we lost that day it would be my last day as groundsman!

"It was 0-0 and then late in the match a ball span past Thomas Myhre and was heading to the goal when it hit the nap of the grass where the line curved and span wide. My heart was pounding. I'm convinced if the grass had been cut in a straight line it would have gone in!

"Walter saw it too and told me afterwards 'you were lucky today Bob. I saw the way that ball moved. But get it changed for the next match!'

"It wasn't just the cut we had to change. He wanted all the green paintwork around the ground changing to blue as well!"

Bob can proudly claim to have lost only a handful of matches to the weather during his time at Goodison, and rarely because of the pitch.

"We lost one match against Crystal Palace because of high winds," he said. "The pitch was immaculate!

"And there was another when the pipes at the Bullens Road End, which date back to the 1920s, had frozen solid meaning the toilets, the bars and the snack bars couldn't be opened.

"It was a Sky match and they'd been asking me all week if the pitch was going to be playable. I assured them it would be, and it was. But no-one saw frozen pipes causing the issue!

We've had this new hybridised pitch now for 15 years, and I can honestly say it's one of the best pitches I've ever worked on. Even the contractors say they can't believe how good the pitch is.

"So the women had an absolute quality pitch for their first season here. And it will be just as good next season."

That will be Bob's legacy.

But what does the future hold for a man who has been an Everton fixture for so long?

Well one garden in Maghull will definitely be the best in the area.

"My wife Carole is radiographer and while she's a very educated woman, she's not very practical," said Bob.

"We've got quite a big garden and I've landscaped it but one day I asked her to cut the grass.

"She did and it looked like Jimmy Martin [Everton's former kit man] walking down the road after he'd had a few ales! So she's lost that job! I still don't know if she did it on purpose!

"So I'll spend a bit more time on my own garden, I've got a load of DIY and decorating to do inside the house, we've got grandkids, the latest, Mae is just 14 weeks old and I do a lot of coarse fishing so I can do more of that."

And after nearly 40 years on the inside he will be able to attend matches as a fan now.

"I'm looking forward to that," he said.

"Everton should be one of the top clubs in the country; the fans here are second to none. They are absolutely fantastic."

Their ranks are about to be joined by one more. Happy retirement Bob!