Head groundsman Bob Lennon has retired after spending decades taking precious care of the Goodison pitch
Bob Lennon, grounds manager at Goodison Park, circa 90s/00s
Bob Lennon, grounds manager at Goodison Park, circa 90s/00s(Image: TRINITY MIRROR COPYRIGHT/REACH CONTENT ARCHIVE)
View 3 Images
Goodison Park said goodbye to another legend this week as head groundsman Bob Lennon retired after 38 years with Everton.
The popular grandad, who knows every contour of the famous pitch like the back of his hand, is now set to apply his skills to his own garden after decades of nurturing one of the most famous patches of turf in the UK.
It has been a career spent under the spotlight - everyone in football, from managers to spectators, has an opinion on the pitch on a matchday. That scrutiny stretched from the thousands in the stands to millions watching around the world as the years went by.
Author avatar
Author avatar
The 66-year-old has plenty of stories as a result. The pressure of fine-tuning a pitch for some of the finest footballers in the world in the harshest of conditions has also given him a front row view of the club’s fortunes.
That often meant playing a role in the manager’s tactical plans. "Howard Kendall used to ask me to have the goal mouth at the Gwladys Street nice and wet and the one at the Park End dry,” Bob told the ECHO during the final season the Everton men’s team called Goodison home.
He continued: “Every manager up to probably Walter Smith would say to me how they wanted it on the morning of a match. Joe Royle might ask me to make sure I leave it a bit longer if we were playing in the cup and the kids were getting a go, it would be to try to slow the pitch down a bit. All of these little tactics, they were part and parcel of it being a home fixture, playing to your strengths."
Bob Lennon, Goodison Park groundsman
Bob Lennon, Goodison Park groundsman(Image: Tony McArdle/EFC)
View 3 Images
Frank Lampard was clear over what he wanted from the pitch, while David Moyes was very protective of the playing surface. Of the players, one stood out for the interest they displayed in his work - title-winning Mikel Arteta, perhaps unsurprisingly given his reputation for focusing on intricate details as a manager himself now with Arsenal.
Bob, originally from Lydiate, said: "Arteta would come out and ask 'why is the pitch long?' We would say because the manager had asked for it that way. He would say: 'When I am manager, we will get the pitch cut.'"
He did not always meet the desires of the manager at the time - this week telling the Everton website of one occasion that almost left him in trouble with Walter Smith.
Bob said: "I'd decided to mow the Goodison pitch in circles, rather than lines or diagonals. 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.'”
Head groundsman Bob Lennon on the snowbound pitch at Goodison Park when a match was called off
Head groundsman Bob Lennon on the snowbound pitch at Goodison Park when a match was called off(Image: TRINITY MIRROR COPYRIGHT/REACH CONTENT ARCHIVE)
View 3 Images
Bob initially worked at the club’s old Bellefield training ground when he started with the club in 1988, moving from a parks and gardens apprenticeship with Liverpool Council after responding to a job advert in the ECHO.
He took over the head groundsman job at Goodison from Dougie Rose in 1995 and remained at the Grand Old Lady for the first season after the senior men’s team moved to Hill Dickinson Stadium.
After nearly 40 years of playing such an important role he is now looking forward to watching the Blues as a fan. "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."
FOLLOW OUR EVERTON FC FACEBOOK PAGE!Latest EFC news and analysis from via the Liverpool Echo’s dedicated FB page