groundsman
club
Everybody currently has a feeble groundsman. He does nothing.
The groundsman in BT is infamous, as it epitomises the slow development rate of the game.
Game developer BT-Allan suggested in this Q&A back in May 2005:
"BT-allanfc: Hmm - I'm still playing around with one or two ideas that I'm not entirely convinved about yet...I want the groundsman to be a much bigger part of the game when the FC games arrive so that is when I want to have it in place for. It also ties in a bit with the Q about the economy - until I see what everyone should be able to afford I will not be introducing it.
BT-allanfc: I suppose a rough ETA would be start of season 2."
This stuff was posted on 17 Apr 2010, lord knows when it'll become a reality (it wasn't implemented):
There will be changes to how pitches are prepared - the quality of your groundsman will begin to be important.
Groundsmen will be able to prepare a pitch for every match in the coming week. This means that if you have 3 games in the coming week, the groundsman will be working on 3 pitches. If you have 1 game, he will have 1 pitch to prepare. You will be able to start preparing the pitch 7 days before the game is due to start.
The pitches will be sorted according to a spectrum:
Green -> H&F -> Cracked -> Uneven
and
Green -> Flat -> Slow -> Dusty
Your starting groundsman will have relatively low skill, but he will be able to prepare any pitch you want given a week's notice. With better groundsmen, pitch changes will happen faster.
Pitches will start defaulted to Green, and your groundsman will start moving towards your default pitch type immediately.
When a pitch type is moved or set, it can be either 100% on that pitch type or a 67% - 33% mix with the next type on the pitch spectrum. The skill in getting a pitch perfectly as planned will come down to your groundsman. For example, if you select a Slow pitch, it might be 100% Slow, 67% Slow/33% Flat or 67% Slow/33% Dusty.
Pitch deterioration will also happen during First Class games, although the direction of the deterioration will be determined by a combination of factors outside the direct control of the manager.
Groundsmen will all start at initial low skill levels but there will be the ability to enhance your groundsman at later stages. The new pitches and groundsmen will be available from the beginning of Season 17.
We believe this change will increase the tactical options available to home managers, without being time-consuming for casual players while also providing value to your groundsman.