ENFIELD PLAYING FIELDS

ENFIELD BOROUGH COUNCIL WORK WITH THE FOOTBALL FOUNDATION TO CREATE A NEW COMMUNITY FOOTBALL ARTIFICIAL 3G PITCH.

Enfield Borough Council successfully obtained substantial funding from the Football Foundation for £522,000.00. The grant enabled the council to convert one of their 16 natural football turf pitches, based at Enfield Playing Fields, into a first-class FIFA Quality 106 x 70m 3G artificial floodlit pitch.

The new 3G pitch will benefit the local community and grassroots football clubs, including the council’s partner club Enfield Town FC. It is anticipated that the pitch will be used over 50 hours per week. A five-year development plan compiled with the council, Football Foundation, and Middlesex County FA expects that players under the age of 14 will increase by 63% & the number of current teams will increase from 20 to 31.

Chairman of Enfield Town FC Paul Reed commented:
“We are incredibly excited to be having this facility on our doorstep and can’t wait to work with Enfield Council to enhance the borough’s growing reputation in football.

Our aim is to increase accessibility to football and help make it a sport for all, and this project fits perfectly with our vision of being an inclusive club and a football and social centre for the community, with a range of teams playing at the highest sustainable levels possible.”

The Football Foundation considered this project vital for football development within the borough, due to the lack of 3G pitch facilities available. The pitch was officially opened on the 20th November by the Mayor of Enfield, Christine Hamilton, and fellow councillors Daniel Anderson and Ayfer Orhan.

Councillor Daniel Anderson, Enfield cabinet member for the environment said:

“The Mayor of Enfield and I are thrilled to officially open the new 3G pitch at Enfield Playing Fields with the help of the Premier League and the FA facilities Fund. We would like to give our thanks to all involved in bringing this first-class facility to Enfield. Our aim is to encourage those of all abilities to actively participate in sport. We would like to foster grassroots football in the borough, improve skill levels across the board and help the local community benefit from this outstanding new pitch. I look forward to kick-off!”

The Football Foundation is the largest sports charity in the United Kingdom. Originally founded in 2000, they work with the Premier League, The FA and Sport England. Their mission is to develop new and refurbished grassroot sporting facilities. The Football Foundation has awarded approximately 15,000 grants worth over £580m since the charity was launched; additional partnership funding of over £800m has also been contributed towards these investments.

Working in partnership with TigerTurf, McArdle were delighted to be involved in another contract to build a prestigious Football Foundation project. TigerTurf’s Atomic Pro 60 artificial carpet was laid on an engineered base to achieve FIFA Quality standards. The pitch took a total of 12 weeks to complete, with 5,500 tonnes of stone imported, 148 tonnes of kiln dried silica sand and 111 tonnes of specially selected rubber crumb to create the 3G pitch infill.

Video footage courtesy of Halliday Lighting