As all of our supporters will be acutely aware, the playing surface continues to suffer from waterlogging, which has resulted in two postponements so far this season. The pitch has performed worse than expected, sooner than expected, to such a degree that the Club has no confidence that we would be able to complete our scheduled fixtures this season without taking immediate action.
We have been deploying the inflatable MacLeod Cover system for recent fixtures, which has proved invaluable. However, it is not, in our view, a viable solution for a sustained period of time and will ultimately not prevent the continued deterioration of the playing surface over the winter months.
Faced with this situation, the Club has sought, and received, permission from the National League to undertake a mid-season full rebuild of the pitch at the Crown Oil Arena.
With advice from our technical consultants, OBI, this rebuild will involve removing the entire profile of the pitch down to the drains. We will install new drainage and a gravel bed, which will be crucial in ensuring adequate drainage for years to come. The new pitch profiles will then be laid, and finally, a HERO hybrid carpet will form the playing surface, which will then be immediately playable.
Undertaking a pitch rebuild mid-season is not a straightforward process and does place an unwelcome financial burden on the club. We would like to thank all of the third parties involved who have enabled us to get to a position where we can even contemplate carrying this work out.
The build process will take approximately 4-5 weeks. Works are scheduled to commence on Sunday 7th December, immediately after the rescheduled match against Southend United. There are two matches which will be affected by the rebuild, against Hartlepool United (Tuesday 30th December) and Brackley Town (Saturday 3rd January).
The Club is in advanced discussions regarding an alternative location for these games to be played. We intend to update supporters with details of the alternative arrangements prior to the pitch works commencing.
Our planned return to the Crown Oil Arena is for the match against Truro City on Saturday 24th January.
We appreciate that there will be some inconvenience for fans and other stakeholders resulting from these fixtures being played away from the Crown Oil Arena. However, we are faced with little choice but to take action now. The action we are taking will give our team the best chance of playing out the remainder of the season on a suitable playing surface and will benefit the Club for years to come with a pitch that we can be proud of.
