Wing Recreational Football Pitch Renovation

Football Pitch Renovation Project Background

Football pitch renovation and maintenance is as much of an issue for small, local teams as it is for football clubs further up the league tables. Therefore, we were delighted to have been asked by our long-standing client, Wing Parish Council, to help refurbish their existing football pitch.

Wing is a small and thriving village situated within the county of Buckinghamshire. Included as part of the close community is their popular football team, Wing FC. The team is a successful adult Grassroots football team which plays in the North Bucks & District League One.

This football pitch renovation and maintenance project was required to ensure that the completed facilities meet specific standards. The pitch needed to fully comply with all the basic Football Association criteria on standards and quality of the playing surface.

The existing pitch area comprised of a single, full-sized pitch that is used by two successful and established adult football teams, including Wing FC. The teams had been promoted into a new division that requires the additional works to be carried out to improve the overall standards of the football pitch.

The objectives of this Football Pitch Renovation project:

During the initial stages of the football pitch refurbishment project, it was outlined that there were two clearly defined objectives that needed to be met:

1. Improve the quality of the playing surfaces
2. Develop areas for rotational football pitches to reduce wear

As part of the initial investigations, it was found that the surface had undulations, was uneven in places and was clearly in desperate need of pitch refurbishment works.

In addition, the existing goal posts were fixed in position, which resulted in excessive wear in the goal mouths along with several other frequently used parts of the established pitch.

Solution

Communication is key to ensuring a pitch renovation project runs smoothly. Right from our initial meeting and through the all the phases of works, we maintain clear communications with all stakeholders.

Meetings established that the overall goal of the project was to revitalise the football pitch playing area. We agreed that by levelling out the ground, reseeding and reinstating the surface would return the pitch to a high standard.

It was agreed that the future preservation of the refurbished surface would be enhanced by adopting the use of demountable goals. These will permit the main pitch to be rotated around the whole of the available area to help even out the wear.

The change in the type of goal equipment also allowed the markings on the main football pitch area to be revised when required. Resulting in suitable areas that could be used by the junior teams, when not needed for adult matches.

The project then ensured the surrounding amenity grass has been utilised for training and other allied activities, therefore reducing unnecessary use of the main pitch.

To accompany the use of our vast fleet of grounds equipment on this contract, we also utilised specialist machinery, including:

• Mumby Tractor Drawn Laser Grader
• Blec Power Box Rake
• JCB – 13t 360 Excavator
• Imants Shock Wave
• Mumby Power Rake

Football Pitch Maintenance & Aftercare Schedule

To help support our client and maintain that the quality standards of the football playing surface, we worked with them to develop a clear and detailed maintenance schedule.

This maintenance program included the following treatments to be carried out throughout each year until the pitch becomes fully established.

• Spraying – Teams Sprayer 6m Boom
• Verti Draining – Charterhouse 7626
• Mowing – Trimax Stealth Mower
• Over Seeding – Vredo Disc Seeder – Sherriff Sports Mix
• Fertilising – Vicon Spreader – Autumn & Spring
• Rolling – Watson Flat Roller – Consolidating the top layer

Football Pitch Renovation Outcome

The overall intention of the football pitch refurbishment project was to revitalise the playing area and bring it up to Football Association minimum requirements with inter-changeable goal post positions.

This would allow for the football pitch to be rotated around the whole area to reduce the amount of wear at Wing’s Recreation Ground and provide a high-quality football pitch and maintenance program for the future.

Jason Haley, Contracts Manager, said “The results of this football pitch renovation project is testament to working closely with our clients to achieve the best results for their football pitch”.

Jason continued “We are very much looking forward to our continued work with Wing FC through our carefully planned pitch maintenance schedule”.