NEW TIGERTURF PITCH AT BLGC PERFORMS BETTER WHATEVER THE WEATHER

 

Installing a TigerTurf artificial grass pitch at Bolton Lads and Girls Club helped to grow revenue and increase participation within the local community.

 

Stuck with a natural grass pitch that was letting them down during the winter months, Bolton Lads and Girls Club needed a high-performing pitch that could be used throughout the year and for more than just competitive fixtures.

 

With its longstanding history of providing the young people of Bolton with a safe and fun place to spend their free time, Bolton Lads and Girls Club (BLGC) has always facilitated a variety of recreational and performing arts opportunities, alongside a diverse range of sporting activities.

 

Yet, with football teams ranging from Under 7’s to Veterans to accommodate, the club’s existing, natural grass pitch was in no way up to the task. Usable only for competitive matches, the opportunities for play had become increasingly limited, and each winter over recent years had seen many weeks of football cancelled to flooding.

 

When BLGC and others within the Bolton and Bury District Football League began to lose even more play than usual because of adverse conditions in winter 2015, enough was enough for the club’s Commercial Manager, Andrew Tower.

 

“Between November and March, it was at its worst,” recounts Andrew. “We knew we needed a completely new surface, and we needed one fast.”

 

The club began to look at other surfacing options, choosing a TigerTurf 3G turf designed specifically to meet the needs of players across a range of levels and abilities. 

 

Andrew comments: “Bolton Lads and Girls Club prides itself on its quality provisions for young people and so laying down the best surface possible for its members and for the surrounding community was the only way to go. The aim was to secure a first class surface for our teams to play football on, whilst providing the opportunity for schools to play other sports on it too.” 

 

The club’s swift action was immediately rewarded, with play able to restart following a winter of inaction. Andrew explains: “The Bolton and Bury District Football League estimates that around 13 weeks’ of play were lost to poor weather. However, as we were able to play on the new surface from the 3^rd week in January, we only lost around eight weeks of football — and it would have been even less had we been playing on the surface throughout the season.”

 

Not only was the pitch able to accommodate matches more regularly, but all other types of play increased dramatically. As well as 16 hours usage from the club’s teams, the new pitch is able to facilitate around 26 hours of overall usage every week from community members.

 

According to Andrew, the impact on participation has been similarly emphatic. He continues: “ In the first season after the pitch was installed, BLGC was represented by 25 teams, including an open-age ladies team — a huge increase of 66% from previous seasons.” This has been matched by a surge in the number of young members welcomed by the club, he says. “In its first four months of use, the pitch experienced a footfall of 10,000, over 2000 of which can be attributed to unique individuals and over 80% aged below 18 years.”

 

However, for a charitable organisation without a guaranteed income, perhaps the most important aspect of any investment is ensuring that it will not place further strain on already precious resources. In this, the new financial benefit brought to BLGC by hiring out the facility to external users is vital. Andrew concludes: “Previously no income was received from pitch use as it was only the club who would use it. Now, we are looking to generate sufficient revenue during the lifespan of the surface to allow us to replace it when the time comes. We are already on target to achieve this.”