Hednesford Town Football Club have this week been informed that their Keys Park pitch has been shortlisted as one of the best in the Northern Premier League.

We must congratulate, and say ‘thank you’, to David and Val Bates for all the hard work that they have put in over the course of this season and also the previous three years – helping us to gain the playing surface that we currently have.

The ground staff at eight other clubs are also getting ready for special ground inspections after being named as finalists in the inaugural GreenFields Pitch of the Year Awards.

Judges from sports turf specialists and official pitch partners GreenFields will unveil the top surface in each of the Evo-Stik League’s three divisions at the annual end of season awards after visiting the homes of the finalists over the coming weeks.

Our own Keys Park surface, along with those at Stourbridge and Whitby Town represent the top flight, Colwyn Bay, Tadcaster Albion and Trafford in Evo-Stik League North and Belper Town, Loughborough Dynamo and Stamford in Evo-Stik League South, could all be heading to Blackpool’s Hilton Hotel on Saturday 16 June after the shortlist was announced on Easter Monday before being published later this week by GreenFields in their latest digital newsletter for clubs.

Appointed last summer as the NPL’s official pitch partners for the historic 2017-18 50th anniversary campaign, GreenFields will take into account a number of factors including maintenance resources, geographic location, existing irrigation and the amount of pitch usage before choosing the winners.

As well as the honour of being the first recipients of the new accolades since the league teamed up with GreenFields to offer advice on maintaining grass surfaces and surface solutions to meet the growing demand for 3G and hybrid turf pitches, the winners will also be presented with £500 vouchers to redeem against future maintenance materials or services from the Evo-Stik League’s official pitch partners.