Nenagh AFC to officially open new Astro pitch
After several years in planning and when, at times, it did not look like it would not happen, Nenagh AFC will officially open its new astroturf pitch at Brickfields on Saturday 1st June at 2.00pm.
The club extends an invitation to all players, past and present, parents, and everyone that has supported us in any way to the official opening. A special invite also goes out to all the local businesses that supported the blues financially by taking advertisement signs for the astroturf and those who supported on and off stage with ‘Christmas with The Stars’ and with its Golf Classic, which generated much finance to kick-start this project.
This project was in the pipeline for several years. However, with ever increasing-costs, it was scaled back to a 70mx45m pitch at a cost of over €200,000. After securing a loan from the social lending agency Clan Credo, work began on the astroturf just before the end of 2023, but with poor weather over the winter, it proceeded at a slow pace. However, in the meantime, further financial support was secured from Tipperary County Council, the Football Association of Ireland and the JP McManus Fund which was invaluable.
With the improving weather, the work accelerated, and the ground works were followed by fencing and then the laying of the carpet and the markings were laid down. Finally, tons of sand were added along with similar amounts of rubber granules for bounce.
The astroturf facility is a major asset to the club’s complex at Brickfields. With a state of the art clubhouse and top quality pitches, the astroturf will be the perfect training amenity for our teams as well as being available to the public and other clubs for rent.
It will ensure un-interrupted training during the winter months and improve the quality of our younger and adult training sessions for years to come.
With this new facility in place, it is hoped that adults also might step forward and assist with training for the coming season and that we will attract more players into the club.
The club are seeking to revitalise the female section of the club and again are hoping to get volunteers to assist. For many years, the Football for All programme ran every Saturday. It is hoped to revive this in the coming season as our club strive to be as inclusive as possible.
The club is grateful to John Foran of Emerald Pitches for the work and to Shane O’Gorman Electrical for installing the lighting.
Like all other sporting organisations, Nenagh AFC is blessed with a very hard-working committee who have devoted long hours into making this happen.
Brickfields is now a complex which is the envy of most soccer clubs in Ireland, both amateur and professional. It will be there for many years to come, serving the people of Nenagh and North Tipperary.
The club asks that as many as possible join its lotto for €2 per week to help us defray this considerable expense. Since first purchased, Nenagh AFC Ltd has invested almost €3 million in the complex in the last twenty years. Nenagh AFC has come a long way.