Our 3G pitch was professionally tested recently and approved for football up to league standards and for international and top class rugby league games. Of course the FL still insist on grass pitches, ignoring the wider commercial value of multi-use pitches to cash-strapped clubs which seems very short-sighted.
We are looking at grants to improve the upper field grass pitches and lighting, so that we can use them for both football and rugby. We are also looking at grants for a Multi-Use Grass Area (MUGA) pitch at the Park Road end inside the stadium for 5 a side games. This will attract junior and senior teams and attract more investment. These plans and requests take time but we continue to convert Horsfall into a Stadium with increasing potential for teams and leagues in the local community and beyond. Let’s hope we don’t get the snow and fog we had last year at this time.
You may have seen that our main Academy team, led by Pat McGuire, continue to have success in their league with six wins on the trot and I hope we may see one or two of these lads playing some part in the upcoming game against Brighouse. Progress is good and from Juniors to Academy this is an exciting part of the club now. For prospective sponsors you can link your name to our future stars and successes. – Read the Match Report on this game by clicking here
We are still waiting for the National League to distribute the funds given them by the Premier League to share amongst clubs and for the NL to explain their plans with BT on streaming games. It is frustrating having to wait for these income generating plans to come off.These are tough times for many people and that knocks on to non league clubs with bills and staff to pay.
Season ticket holders of Premier League and Championship teams can watch our games at a special reduced rate and England fans can watch our World Cup games in the Function suite with a pie and peas offer from the Development Fund, who are also selling tickets for their Christmas Raffle.
We value all those taking up these promotions.
Paul Armitage