Paul Lambert has hailed Jonathan Calderwood for his Groundsman of the Year award, saying: "The pitches at Villa Park and Bodymoor Heath are fantastic."

Calderwood won the IOG Football Groundsman of the Year award at a star-studded ceremony in York.

Calderwood looks after the stadium pitch as well as the seven full-size grass pitches, three goalkeeping areas, six junior pitches and three full-size 3G synthetic pitches at the club's training ground.

Lambert was delighted to hear of the award for Calderwood and think it's richly deserved.

He said: "I think the playing surface at the stadium is fantastic.

"It's tremendous here at Bodymoor Heath as well.

"The training ground pitches are great as anyone who has been here will tell you.

"It's a fantastic place to train and the grass is just brilliant."

Calderwood has also won the Barclays Premier League Groundsman of the Year and Groundman's Groundsman of the Year awards on numerous occasions during his ten-year tenure at Villa.

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