Flooding relief

CELEBRATING . . . Saddleworth School rugby league players and staff, back, from left, Gary Melling (PE teacher), Daniel Murphy, Nathan Jackson, Billy Buckley, Jack Kelly, Adam Cree (PE teacher). Front, Nathan Greenwood and Charlie Lawless

Project to drain playing fields a step closer

JUBILANT sports clubs across Saddleworth are celebrating after plans to carry out an overhaul of the drainage at Churchill Playing Fields moved a step closer.

Having to endure waterlogged pitches could be a thing of the past as early as next year for local football and rugby players after the Saddleworth and Lees District Partnership pledged £50,000 towards the project, bringing the total raised so far to £150,000.

The move is part of a £300,000 scheme that could see investment from the Football Association (FA) to bring the often-flooded grounds up to scratch.

Gary Melling, PE teacher at Saddleworth School, said: “The pitch can be a mud bath and the youngsters are slipping about. Sometimes they’re put off before they even begin.

“We’ve had to forfeit the advantage of playing at home because the facilities are not there.

“This is a big deal for us. We have 13 rugby and football teams and it’s even more significant having realised that we are not going to get a new school.”

Matt Poulter, head of boys’ football at Uppermill Football Club, described the approval of the project as a welcome move, adding: “It’s been up in the air for a while so it’s great to see something happening.

“We pay fees to use the facility, it costs us roughly £60 per game, and that’s just for one team, we have 25 in total.

“But the state of the fields at the moment can delay finishing a season.

“We’ve had to cancel youth games because the fields have simply not been fit for play.”

The club has had to bring forward winter training on astro-pitches as a result of the poor conditions.