Wimborne Town FC Natural Turf Football Pitch Construction

Key Achievements

• Design and construction of two natural turf pitches to Sport England Type 5 specifications.


• Reduced growing-in time by 50% using a custom-built irrigation system.


• Overcame poor weather and coronavirus challenges to complete works on schedule.

The Challenge

Wyatt Homes and Wimborne Town FC sought a single partner who could deliver the football ground relocation project to the highest standards and with minimum risk.

As leading contractors for natural turf sports pitch construction, and working in close collaboration with our sister company S&C Slatter. White Horse Contractors were able to offer an integrated solution for the club relocation and associated construction of new matchday and training pitches at New Cuthbury.

The unprecedented national lockdown, twinned with poor weather conditions, required White Horse Contractors to be agile and innovative to deliver the project on schedule and on budget.

The Solution

To keep the project on schedule White Horse Contractors' designed a bespoke growing in programme to ensure the required handover dates were achieved. As part of this we utilised our specialist temporary irrigation equipment. This was carried out by our own specialist in-house maintenance division.

The project, led by our technical director our in-house agronomist and technical director, Dr James Welsh, who worked in close collaboration with our seed suppliers to create a bespoke blend of grass seed mix which, in tandem with our irrigation system, dramatically accelerated the growth of the pitches and enabled us to achieve the project deadline.

Jonathan Passey, Commerical Director of Wyatt Homes, oversaw the complex project and gave his view on the speed and quality of delivery when handing over Wimborne’s new pitches:

Results

The two natural pitches were constructed to Sport England Type 5 standard and meet FA guidelines to ensure they deliver a high-quality playing surface performance at the Dorset Club for years to come.

Our dedicated maintenance experts delivered post-construction care and a detailed handover, to ensure a seamless transition for the club’s own grounds team. Jonathan Passey of Wyatt Homes summarised the success of the project with his comment:

White Horse Contractors are proud to have been part of the team working to ensure a successful future for the club and we can’t wait for the fans, and the players to make use of the new facilities. We wish the team the best of luck when the season restarts! Find out more about our natural turf sports pitch construction services.