Meet the award-winner behind Doncaster Rovers' pristine playing surface

“It's ridiculous,” he says of the challenge of trying to navigate weather forecasts sometimes predicting temperatures several degrees apart.

"Weather forecasts are a pain in the backside.

"We typically just stick to one. If you look at three or four, I don’t think you will ever get anything done.”

Dylan is one of four full-time members of staff working between the Eco-Power and Cantley Park who help keep the pitches in carpet-like condition.

That’s no mean feat given the stadium alone is used all year round for football, rugby league and concerts.

"Having fixtures almost makes the pitch better,” says Dylan, a lifelong Rovers fan from Kirk Sandall.

"We don’t really ever go three weeks without a game. Sometimes maintenance is a little bit forced and you are doing things to fill time.

"The maintenance we do is what the pitch needs.”

Gone are the dirty tricks teams used to play on their opponents when it came to their playing surface, with ‘the boggier the better’ the order of the day.

"Managers want a consistent surface from day one until the final day of the season,” says Dylan.

"You hear stories from back in the day of ‘can you do this to change it for the game?’.

There is still room for the occasional ‘accidental’ sprinkling, however.

“You see people on the pitch and think ‘they can get a little bit of a soaking’,” adds the 26-year-old, grinning.

With plenty of friends and family also attending home games, Dylan, who is one of the youngest groundspeople in the country, takes plenty of pride in his craft.

"However many thousand people get to see your work every week,” he says.

“It is nice getting that feeling of achievement, particularly when they win because you have kind of played your small part.

"You’ve got the added bonus of working outdoors when it’s lovely. In the sun, nothing beats it.”

Former Hungerhill School pupil Dylan’s efforts since joining Doncaster just over a year ago saw him crowned young groundsperson of the year at the Grounds Management Association’s awards in November.

Dylan also hopes he and his colleagues will be recognised as one of League Two’s Grounds Teams of the Season by the English Football League at the end of the campaign.

The likes of Newport, Tranmere and Stockport are also in the frame for recognition.

"We got above average scores halfway through the season, which was nice,” adds Dylan.

If they are successful, they might also owe thanks to club secretary Adam Grice, who is also a Doncaster fan, and not afraid of rolling up his sleeves and getting his suit dirty.

“To be fair to Adam he stayed with me at the stadium until 10 o'clock on the Friday night before we played Wimbledon sorting things out.

"We are all football fans at the club and we find it frustrating as hell when a Crawley incident happens when you have already set off.

"If it’s in our control to stop that, we will. You are not going to please everybody but we do have fans at heart when making these decisions.”

This week marks Grounds Week, an annual campaign highlighting the work of groundspeople.

Dylan’s journey began as a volunteer with Doncaster. Anyone interested in following in his footsteps should contact [email protected].