Chorley invest in pitch
Chorley invest in Pitch
The pitch here at Chorley has been down sixty to seventy years and was originally laid on cinders. It drains exceptionally well, but over the last six years the club has actively looked at improving the quality of the surface during the closed season. With the exception of this season, when our Chairman died, we have had the pitch verti-drained, top-dressed with between 30-50 tonnes of sand and over seeded each year.
It was about six years ago that we had the soil tested to see what we had, and on the following recommendations we have been integrating sand into the pitch. Due to the problems
We host both football and rugby at Victory Park, and we therefore don't get much of a traditional closed season. The rugby starts in February and continues through the summer until September and the football starts in mid July and finishes in early May.
In other years we have had little more than a two to three week window to get the remedial works done.
Chorley Sporting Club have recognised the importance of up keeping the pitch and money is set aside for the renovations as well as the annual maintenance. We have in fact, employed specifically, a Groundsman at the club for many years to keep the surface in good condition. The people in power regard the ongoing maintenance as essential to the well-being of the teams, and at least a couple of thousand pounds is earmarked for the seasonal renovation.
The football club, in particular, have enjoyed some great years at the Victory Park venue, including two years in the GM Vauxhall Conference and the memorable 1986-87 season when Chorley knocked Wolverhampton Wanderers out of the FA Cup and took Preston North End to a replay at Deepdale before losing 5-0 in front of 16,308 spectators. The club have reached the first round proper of this competition on no less than nine occasions and in 1991 beat Bury 2-1 to reach the second round before losing to Shrewsbury Town 1-0 at Gay Meadow.
There have also been some famous players to emerge from Chorley teams, the most memorable being a certain Paul Mariner, who went on to play for Ipswich Town and England, playing in the UEFA and World Cups for his club and country.