Pitch almost ready for action

Football South CEO Chris Wright and chairman Matthew Holdridge stand on the completed football...
Football South CEO Chris Wright and chairman Matthew Holdridge stand on the completed football-only marked artificial turf at Logan Park yesterday. Photo: Gregor Richardson
The surface is springy, the pitch immaculate and football is in sight.

That is the outlook for the new artificial turf at Logan Park.

The football-only marked pitch is complete and the other has just the "final dressing" to go.

That would likely be ready today, and the main contractor - Polytan - had completed its work yesterday.

Only the surrounding work - the embankment and pavement around the pitch - remains to be completed.

That left it as a construction site, meaning next weekend may be too soon for play.

However, Football South CEO Chris Wright said it would be in use before the end of the month.

It was the culmination of nearly five years of work - the idea was originally hatched before the 2014 under-20 Fifa World Cup.

That had been the carrot the organisation's chairman Matthew Holdridge had used to lure Wright to the role close to four years ago.

On seeing it now close to being finished, Wright said it had exceeded expectations.

"It was really nice for me the other day to come on to the facility once the football-only marked pitch was complete.

"Just to finally feel how the ground would be for a player.

"It's better than I expected it to be, to be honest, that's really exciting for all of our members of all the sports.

"It's going to be a bit surreal when it's no longer a construction site and we can just come and use it."

Holdridge was equally thrilled, having been involved in the project from the beginning.

He said it was a proud moment to see the finished product, knowing the grounds it was on were previously "pretty much unplayable" through the winter.

It would increase the use the community would get from the ground, which he said was great.

The pitches would not be exclusively for football.

However, Football South did have an agreement with the Dunedin City Council for usage hours in recognition of the $4million it raised to make the pitch possible.

It would be used for games and training, ranging from the premier league level down to junior grades.

Light towers meant it could be used at nights and enabled games to be played during the week.

A girls-only league is set to begin in May and will use the turf on a Friday night, with the possibility of having a women's premier league game on afterwards.

The pitch would need to be maintained, although is very durable.

The rubber in the surface gets lower over time and needs to be topped up, something the council was handling.

The synthetic surface would need replacing every 12 years, and on every second cycle the shock pad underneath would also be replaced.

For now, the facility would not be fenced, something which has proven contentious within the community.

Football South was working on the issue with the DCC, investigating the option of a 1.2m-high fence around the turf.

"We get asked a lot about the fencing - it's something that's in place around the other facilities in New Zealand," Wright said.

"In an ideal world it would be fenced, however, under the current plan the council are reviewing the fencing element.

"So we'll get an answer on that in the next few months."

He said the pavement surrounding the pitch, bollards and the embankment would help protect the turf.

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