Ahead of the 2024/25 season, Oxfordshire FA is excited to announce a brand-new partnership with the amenity specialist, Elite Sportsturf, which will help improve and maintain the quality of the county’s grass playing surfaces.

Becoming our Official Grass Pitch Improvement Partner, Elite Sportsturf will be on hand to support our grassroots clubs and facilities with support, expertise and services.

Elite Sportsturf have been working with Football Foundation Grass Pitch Maintenance-funded Oxfordshire FA clubs and local authorities for several years now with fantastic results, as we continue to convert ‘poor and basic’ graded pitches to ‘good’ and beyond.

Established in 2017 by Phil Garrod and his partner, Debbie, Elite Sportsturf was set up as a family-run business to meet an increasing demand within both professional and amateur sports facilities. With a background as both a greenkeeper and groundsman, Phil’s resume includes numerous roles across both the commercial and operational sides of the sports turf industry; all of which he puts to use for the benefit of Elite Sportsturf customers. Having catered for a variety of sports at all levels, from amateur through to the highest professional level, Phil’s passion for achieving the very best results is unmatched.

Phil Garrod, Director/Owner of Elite Sportsturf, said: “Elite Sportsturf ltd is proud to be officially partnered with the Oxfordshire FA. Our previous work across a small number of sites in the county has been a real success, and we've seen significant improvement to pitch quality. This has had positive impact on both playability and durability.

“With this partnership in place, we look forward to continuing our work and expanding our improvement programme to cater for other sites across the county.     Together, we can make a real difference and raise the standards of grassroots pitches with in Oxfordshire.”

Andy Earnshaw, Business and Facility Development Manager at Oxfordshire FA, added: “We are delighted to announce this partnership with Phil and his team, who have already done so much to support the grassroots game across the county. With the improvement of grass pitches set to remain a key feature of our new strategy, we are looking forward to working with Elite to create a greater impact on the standard of pitches in Oxfordshire.”

For more information on Elite Sportsturf, please visit www.elite-sportsturf.co.uk or follow @Elite_Sportsturf_Ltd on Instagram.