an accolade shared jointly with Arsenal's Emirates pitch. The trophy should have been presented to Andy and his team at the last home game of the season, but wasn't, and this was delayed further as this season wore on. Fittingly though, it was eventually presented before the Saints' home match against Sunderland, which turned out to be a record-breaking 8-0 thrashing for the visitors. That was a good day at the office for all Saints.

Pitch lights have been a massive contribution to the quality of the St Mary's playing surface and Andy has had them in his armoury for three years now. Television exposure has meant appearance is everything and, even on this murkiest of murky late November days, the grass looked like a bowling green, its 100percent ryegrass sward as green and thick as a summer show lawn. Stadium Head Groundsman, Ian Lucas, and his assistant, Danny Silvestre, take huge credit for keeping St Mary's looking every inch an award winning pitch.

Andy tells me the club want the best in all regards these days and he had no trouble whatsoever convincing the board that lighting rigs would help deliver an immaculate season-long surface, pleasing the Premier League, television and paying supporters. It was a no-brainer for latter day Saints.

"They do listen to me, but we have to deliver. What do you need to get us the best pitch? I tell them, and it has to be right," he says firmly.

There are now six MU360 lighting rigs from SGL. The first three were purchased in