Evan Davies - Swansea City AFC - Head of Grounds
Evan is Head of Grounds at Swansea City AFC, leading a team responsible for delivering elite playing surfaces and facilities across three venues. With 17 years of industry experience, he utilises modern technology to consistently meet the exacting standards of professional football.
Evan’s journey into turf management began as a volunteer. From those early days, he committed himself to learning. His willingness to work tirelessly, to perfect the smallest of tasks, and to absorb knowledge from colleagues laid the foundation for his career. Over time, his focus shifted from working harder to working smarter, finding efficiencies that created space for better planning and higher standards.
As his career progressed, Evan played a central role in Swansea City’s recognition for pitch quality, contributing to Premier League “Pitch of the Year” accolades and Championship awards. When the club transitioned from the Premier League to the Championship, Evan stepped into more senior responsibilities, managing data collection and planning. By the age of 29, he was appointed Head of Grounds, overseeing all three club sites and leading a young team to carry forward a legacy of excellence.
Evan is particularly proud of the investment he has made in people. Since becoming Head of Grounds, he has placed a strong emphasis on training and professional development. In just four and a half years, he has ensured that five staff have completed Level 3 qualifications, nine have achieved Level 2, seven have secured spraying licences, and many more have attended industry events such as SALTEX. He regularly arranges guest talks and encourages his team to engage with the wider industry.
Evan believes that everyone who joins the profession should be given meaningful chances to learn and contribute, rather than simply filling a role. He champions the importance of mastering the basics before moving to advanced skills, ensuring that each individual develops into a well-rounded and capable professional.
Looking ahead, Evan is determined to keep people at the centre of the industry. Whilst technology plays an increasing role in turf care, he wants to highlight and celebrate the human expertise that underpins quality surfaces.
I’ve worked directly with Evan now for the last 6 or 7 years since he became head groundsman at Swansea City AFC. As a young man he was tasked with not only improving the current stadium surface and two further training ground surfaces, the biggest task for him was to pull all 3 sites together and build a team environment, something that had been missing for several years. He started with staff rotations and, more importantly, he looked at all team members and gave them the opportunity to continue to learn and thrive under his leadership. Evan, over a number of years, has set up team education training days based on agronomy and has encouraged every member of his teams to ask questions and continue to learn, and most have fully responded, creating a thriving environment. It would be easy to say how well the pitches are performing and how well he maintains those, but with Evan it’s all about the team, and the team comes first. I personally think he needs to take more holidays, but he never likes to leave the site and his teams for too long. For me, he would be a great recipient of this award based on his work for others, which he would never take credit for himself."
Peter Holmstrom, Amenity Specialist - Agrovista Amenity
