A 'labour of love' as Athlone Town groundsman

A "labour of love" is how John West describes his 50 years serving as groundsman with Athlone Town football club.

The start of the 2026 League of Ireland season at the Athlone Town Stadium in February represented a milestone moment for the groundsman, as it marked five decades since he began his "dream job" with the club.

The club marked the occasion by naming the pitch at the Athlone Town Stadium 'John West Park' and it made a presentation to West at half-time of the season-opening First Division fixture against Finn Harps.

As he commenced his sixth decade in the role, West looked back on his time with Athlone Town during which he meticulously took care of the grass surface at the club's former home, St Mel's Park, and now the astro-turf pitch at Lissywollen.

"Even though it's 50 years since I started on a full-time basis working as groundsman with the club, I have never felt the time pass. I always liked what I was doing," West said.

Despite the manual aspect of the work involved (particularly during his years working in St Mel's Park), West said preparing the grass surface at the ground "was easy" because "I was very happy working in the job".

West was initially asked to "help out" with preparing the ground for the AC Milan European Cup fixture in 1975 and when groundsman Hugh O'Neill subsequently retired from the role, he was "only too happy" to take up the job.

"I had been working in the weighing room in Maguire's grocery shop before I took on the job. It was a fresh challenge and I quickly took to it. Like with any job, if you were not happy you wouldn't have stayed," West added.

Always to the forefront of his mind was having the pitch in the "best possible condition" on matchday, and he worked "around the clock" to ensure this was the case.

"I wanted the surface at St Mel's Park to be in a better condition with each game. I took great pride in my work. The best feeling was when supporters would compliment me on the standard of the pitch, and I always worked to achieve that goal," West continued.

He still holds a great fondness for St Mel's Park and worked tirelessly on the drainage system to ensure games were not postponed in times of inclement weather.

"All along the railway side of the pitch, cinders from used coal served as the drainage system and I built in a few short pipes to help with certain area of the pitch which tended to hold water in times of very heavy rainfall.

"I always did my best to make sure there were no postponements and that the games went ahead at 3.30pm on a Sunday."

West said players "loved" playing on the surface of St Mel's Park as it "never dried out fully" and it "always had some give on it", which he said were "ideal conditions for any footballer".

At times he would spend hours forking the pitch if there was heavy rainfall the night before a kick-off, but he had said the local St Mel's Terrace community at the time "were a great help" during his years working at the old ground.

"The people from St Mel's took great pride in the old grounds. They treated it as if it was their own pitch and they were always willing to help me out before and after matches," West said.

The start of the 1980s saw Athlone Town claim a first league title, and with close to 5,000 supporters attending most home games West was "working seven days a week" to make sure the surface was "immaculate".

"The game would finish at 5.30pm on a Sunday evening and you'd start working on it immediately. Then you'd be back in at 7am on Monday preparing it for the next fixture. When you were getting the crowds it was vital to have the surface and the grounds looking their best," he stated.

Athlone Town repeated their league winning feat in the 1982-83 season and with a positive mood around the club West said it was a "pleasure" to be groundsman.

"There was a great atmosphere around the club at the time, so I was very happy to be a part of it all. I recall then chairperson Seamus O'Brien thanking me specifically for all my efforts during those league winning seasons, saying it would not have been possible without a team effort on and off the pitch.

"Yes, you were working around the clock but when the team was successful it made the job easier," West said.

He added that he was sad to leave St Mel's Park, and all of the "special memories" it held, when the club relocated to its new stadium in Lissywollen in 2007, but while the work is now "not as manual" there is still plenty to do when preparing the astro-turf surface for fixtures.

"When I arrived first the pitch was like an agricultural field, to be honest, and we worked extremely hard to get it right. It took time to get it to a playing standard but we did so," West said.

The club opted for a change of surface when installing an astro-turf facility in 2019, which West said still requires "a lot of maintenance".

"You can only have 30 hours of activity per week on our astro-turf surface and with so many teams from underage to adult level it's a well-used facility," he said.

West explained that the pitch can become quite compact due to use and there is a need to use a tractor with a drag brush to loosen the surface's rubber granules "at least once a week".

"The drag brush loosens the rubber granules and allows the pitch to recover its spongey feel. I would spend two hours tending to the surface on the tractor to make sure there's a bounce to the pitch on matchday. The players like that."

West said there is "a lot of respect" amongst the Athlone Town community at Lissywollen and he wouldn't continue in his role if there wasn't that "sense of spirit" there.

"I am the first person the players meet when they arrive for training or or matchday. I shake their hands and wish them well and I know they have respect for me and the job that I do at the club," he said.

An extremely affable character, West said he has "never had any issues" with anyone at the club.

"All that I have in football, to be honest with you, is good friends. I have no enemies. I am a good social mixer, always have been, and that has stood me in good stead all through my life," he added.

So what sustains West in his groundsman role as he approaches his 70th birthday?

"I could call time on the job any day but my motivation is to stay fit and healthy. I love interacting with people and that keeps me going. I'd feel very strange sitting at home when I could be here staying active. I found a job in the 1970s that I came to love, and I feel that I still have a lot more to give to the club," he stated.