New sports field ready for football season

Illawarra football players have a new year-round pitch to enjoy with work wrapping up on the synthetic pitch at Ian McLennan Sports Field, Kembla Grange.

Wollongong City Council and Football South Coast with assistance from the NSW Government have completed the installation of the first international standard pitch for the $2.76 million project.

Wollongong City Deputy Lord Mayor Councillor David Brown said the new sports field is the first Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) accredited synthetic pitch in the city.

“We are proud to work closely with Football South Coast and the NSW government to create a fantastic venue where our representative teams can train and play on a pitch that is constructed to FIFA standards,” Cr Brown said.

“A sports field of this calibre opens up opportunities for the development of local junior players as well as a potential training and competition base for current and future national teams. Who knows, the next generation of Matildas or Socceroos may well hone their skills at this venue.

“As well as the pitch we’ve added upgraded lighting and new player dugouts to improve the player and spectator experience. We also thank the NSW Government for funding through the Clubgrants Category 3 Funding who have assisted with this project.”

Minister for Racing Paul Toole said the project was funded through the Clubgrants Category 3 Infrastructure Grants program.   “More than $50 million in funding is being provided during this current term of government for projects across sport and recreation, emergency preparedness, and arts and culture,” Mr Toole said.

Member for Kiama and Parliamentary Secretary for the Illawarra Gareth Ward said: “I am pleased that the NSW Government helped to fund this project – the new synthetic, international standard pitch at Ian McLennan Sports Field in Kembla Grange is a great coup for our region. “There has also been additional lighting and other upgrades to really improve the overall experience for players and fans at this facility which is exciting,” Mr Ward said.

Football South Coast Chairman Eddy De Gabriele said: “Synthetic fields are becoming increasingly popular to cater for high usage and periods of wet weather and FSC is extremely proud to be part of this project which will result in the first ever football synthetic pitch in the region.

“The new pitch will also enhance the quality and frequency of games played at the venue and will be used for various programs and competition games for football, schools and the wider community.

“We would also like to thank Wollongong City Council and the NSW Government via Clubgrants Category 3 Funding who have assisted with funding for this milestone project.  We would once again, also like to acknowledge South Coast United FC for working with Football South Coast in ensuring the facility will be used by the wider community, whilst the club will remain a key user of the facility.”

The Ian McLennan Sports Field Project received the following funding:

NSW Community Building Partnerships Grant $65,000 Football South Coast [2017 commitment] $600,000 Football South Coast [2018 commitment] $200,000 NSW Clubgrants Category 3 Funding [provided to Football South Coast] $500,000 Council $1.4 million

The final sports field project includes:

Synthetic turf field to main field to comply with all FIFA and Football NSW requirements LED lighting to synthetic turf field, the natural turf field, and the junior natural turf field Sportsfield fencing around the synthetic field Installation of player dugouts for the synthetic turf field Installation of fencing around Ian McLennan Park.

Football is Australia’s biggest participation sport with more than 1.5 million participants – including 402,000 female participants – at all junior and senior levels.

If you’d like to know more about the project, you can contact Council’s Customer Service Team on (02) 4227 7111.

Like this:

Like Loading...