The Football Foundation has awarded our grounds team a grass pitch machinery and equipment grant worth £20,128. It’s a 75% contribution towards the purchase of a compact tractor with Quadraplay and mower attachments.

Obviously given our spending this year, it’ll take some time for us to raise our 25% share but if you have any ideas please let them know. The new kit will be a great addition that’ll supplement the work done by the team and by the Lawn Doctor.

The grant supports the Football Foundation’s aim of improving the quality of pitches at grassroots levels. 

The work on the grant started way back in July 2022 – remember the heatwave? The GMA assessed our pitch as poor and recommended improvement measures, tapered funding and a recommendation to fund pitch maintenance equipment.

This year the grounds team has spent hundreds of hours on improving the pitch and the ground more generally. The improvements have transformed the ground and the TLC applied to the pitch meant no match at the OSD was postponed.  

The restoration and improvement of the pitch is a joint effort between the club and the Football Foundation. Throughout the year we’ve supplemented grant funding with the aim of incrementally improving the pitch every season. 

We’ve reseeded the OSD pitch now so its first use will be the St Pauli match on June 20. Come along and see what we’ve done.
If you would like to join the friendly grounds team – all skills and abilities accepted – do email them on ground@claptoncfc.co.uk