THE groundsman looking after Oxford United’s Kassam Stadium pitch has been sacked and replaced with a manager from a stately home.

It has also emerged car washers from the Kassam Stadium car park were called in before last weekend’s game against Barrow to pour hot water on frozen areas of the pitch.

Nick Baldwin, from Berinsfield, pictured, was laid off last month, although the reasons for the dismissal have not been confirmed.

He was unavailable for comment.

The playing surface – for which Mr Baldwin was named runner-up in the Groundsman of the Year award for the Football Conference last year – appeared to cut up in places during last Saturday’s game.

But Firoka, which leases the ground to Oxford United, last night insisted the pitch remained fully maintained.

John Angus, the company’s operations director, said: “Due to data protection, I cannot comment on what could be an ongoing disciplinary matter.

“We have professionals from Oxford University helping us out and covering the pitch. We have also got a professional estates manager from Heythrop Park, which is one of our other properties.”

The Kassam Stadium pitch, featuring a plastic grid and natural grass, was among the most advanced in the world when it was laid in 2001. Delegates from Real Madrid and Juventus visited the stadium to see it.