The Sports Ground, Bideford, Pitch Improvements

Aim

To make 'close season' improvements to the playing surface of The Sports Ground so Bideford has a playing surface to be proud of.

Bideford AFC, Bideford AFC Reserves & Youth and Bideford AFC Ladies all play home matches at The Sports Ground, Bideford.

This iconic ground boasts 4 'retro' style floodlight pylons which, when lit, can be seen from miles around and has a ground capacity of 4000 people.

The Sports Ground was well known in the 70's & 80's as arguably the best pitch to play on in the whole of the South West. 

We have a licence to use the pitch, changing rooms and stands during the football season and in these unfortunate and uncertain times there is no public money available to carry out the required 'close season' works plus the urgently needed lowering of the goal mouth area at the north end of the pitch. 

We have a team of volunteers already getting the rest of the ground and the Robins Nest spruced up and ready for the return of football, whenever that may be, however we need to hire, purchase and employ the correct machinery, materials and people to carry out the following over the summer - 

Phase one (Being carried out on Sunday 31st May 2020)

The height of the skate-park end goal mouth is nigh on illegal, Hire a digger and lower the level of the goal mouth area and seed accordingly.

Costs approx £300-£400

Phase two 

The improvement of the pitch generally

Employ a local firm to Deep tyne airate the pitch (up to 16 inches) - Overseeding the whole pitch - Sand spread the pitch - Fertilize the pitch

Costs approx £3000 

Any surplus funds would them be used throughout the season to tyne airate etc as required.

Some questions you may have having read the above -

Why are we doing this? 

Our vision is to use this enforced break to get the pitch in the best condition possible for when football returns thus enabling more matches & training sessions to be played on it during the season. 

To help the Southern League side attract better players (ideally from the local area) and enable them to continue their fine form from the end of the 2019/20 season. Also to give us a better chance of attracting Professional clubs for pre-season friendlies in the summer of 2021.

To host the new Reserve side in the North Devon League and enable them to attract good local talented players.

To enable more of the Youth sides to be able to play on the pitch and attract more local youngsters to the club.

To help the Ladies as they continue their rise through their league pyramid and attract new players to their setup.

Why aren't TDC paying for these works?

Public funds have not been available for the last couple of years to enable TDC to carry out these works in the 'close season'. Especially now with public funds being required for important purposes in the current economic climate. TDC do still arrange and pay for the pitch to be cut and lines marked as required.

Why can we not apply for FA (or similar) funding now for these works?

This is due to not having a formal long lease for The Sports Ground. Most lending bodies will require the club to have an, at least, 25 year lease. We each have yearly licenses to use the pitch. We are the early stages of discussions with TDC regarding this and we would like to think that by this time next year we could be in a position to apply for future funding. That would then require a grounds team & machinery being put in place for us to then take control of cutting and marking the pitch.

All at Bideford AFC would like to thank Torridge District Council for allowing us to improve the playing surface of The Sports Ground and we look forward to working with TDC over the coming months and beyond.                           

This project successfully funded on 27th June 2020