Scarborough Athletic Pitch Repairs Could Need Funding Approvals

A Scarborough Councillor has been told repairs to the Scarborough Sports Village 3G pitch might need to wait for funding approval from the council.

As it emerged this week that there are "serious structural issues" with the 3G pitch at the sports village, one local councillor says he has been told the scale of the works required might now need to wait for approval by North Yorkshire Council's executive committee before they can start.

Scarborough Athletic say they were told on Monday that a survey ahead of a planned pitch resurfacing project due to take place this summer had revealed structural problems with the pitch and the drainage system, which could lead to the works taking longer than anticipated and could mean the pitch wouldn't be available for the the first few games of next season.

24 hours later the club were told the situation was more complicated and that the council were unable to say when the works would start, throwing in to doubt the availability of the stadium for Scarborough's next league season.

North Yorkshire Councillor Rich Maw, is the division member for Weaponness and Ramshill where the ground is located. He says he hadn't been made aware of the issue before the football clubs board issued a statement on Wednesday evening, Councillor Maw says he requested information from council officers on Thursday morning and received a response which he has shared on social media.

The response states that the site surveys were carried out in January and February and identified "serious structural issues including a defective drainage system installed when the facility was first constructed." which has lead to "ground instability and movement."

The response suggests that the cost of the repairs and the financial implications are such that they would "also now require additional Executive approvals".

The officers state that 

"The advice we are currently working to is that the pitch will not pass another inspection (required to maintain its FIFA grading) which means that it cannot be used for match play after the end of the current season, although community use can continue for the time being. "

Councillor Maw says that the full response he received from officers was:

"The pitch requires resurfacing and we were working towards this being undertaken this summer, at the end of the football season. 

We suspected some potentially more serious structural works may be required, given the appearance of the pitch and its premature failure. To assess the extent of the work a series of site surveys were undertaken during January and February. These identified serious structural issues including a defective drainage system installed when the facility was first constructed. This has resulted in ground instability and movement.

The works therefore to resolve the issues before the pitch can be resurfaced are considerably more extensive and complex. We have been working to identify the best technical solution to resolve the issue and are investigating all remedies that may be available to us. Given the financial implications and cost of the works required this would also now require additional Executive approvals on a range of options.

Given the scale of works likely to be involved and the financial implications, the pitch will not be available for competitive match play for the start of the season. The advice we are currently working to is that the pitch will not pass another inspection (required to maintain its FIFA grading) which means that it cannot be used for match play after the end of the current season, although community use can continue for the time being. 

We are working with SAFC and the Football Foundation to consider alternative temporary options for next season. SAFC have notified the National League of the position.

We fully appreciate the impact of this for Scarborough Athletic Football Club, Scarborough Ladies Football Club and the other teams that use the pitch. Affected teams have been notified last night. We have been working closely with SAFC, Everyone Active and the Football Foundation and will continue to do so whilst we work through this difficult issue.

I appreciate this is a worrying position for those affected and if you require any further information please don’t hesitate to contact me."

In an interview with This is the Coast, Scarborough Athletic Chairman Trevor Bull expressed grave concerns about the implications for the fan-owned community football club saying:

"it is potentially life threatening as the football club, but as a board of directors, we are working 24 hours a day to make sure that doesn't happen. We haven't got any solid plans on how we're going to deal with this yet.

We're working on it.   We had an emergency board meeting Wednesday evening, and different directors have been challenged too often and make inquiries and try and find out what is possible . But of course the blow is if we're not in that ground, there's a danger that our sponsors will stay with us. How do we sell season tickets?  

The majority of our revenue is generated on a match day. So we wouldn't , be able to sell hospitality, we wouldn't be able to use our bar, we wouldn't be able to get gate entry,  it just goes on and on.  We've gotta find a solution quickly.

We need some clarity. Around the next steps within the next two to three weeks."

Scarborough Athletic play their final home game of the current campaign against Darlington on Easter Monday, the game is unaffected by this week's announcements and will go ahead as planned.

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