Hanwell Town unveil a new phone-operated pitch!

Bostik League new boys have state-of-the-art surface- partly controlled by a mobile phone app!

When Hanwell Town host Bedfont Sports in their first home match of the season on 18th August, all eyes may well not be on the football- they are likely to also be admiring the Powerday Stadium's new state of the art playing surface. And, unlike many new playing surfaces in this day and age, this one is made of grass!

The club explained:

After the terrible weather towards the end of last season we made a significant commitment to upgrade the pitch. In excess of 3000 meters of drainage has been installed, and once this was complete the pitch was then fraze-mowed (please get your friendly local groundsman to explain that!), removing the top layer from the playing surface. This was then followed by top dressing the pitch with 120 tonnes of sand and then re-seeding.

Hanwell Town's new irrigation system in action

Hanwell Town's new irrigation system in action

We also installed a state of the art fully automated Rain Bird pop up irrigation system.

Here's Head Groundman Tom Duffy with an experts view:

"This is a major investment for a club at this level and will transform the pitch for years to come. The lateral drains are spaced every 3m and the trenches for the irrigation also act as addition drains.

With the new irrigation system we can now water the pitch at night in just 78 minutes instead of having sprinklers running 24/7. On match days we can slick up the pitch in just 12 minutes from an App on the phone!”

Rob Donnelly, Pitch Advisor with the Institute Of Groundmanship, added:

“It was good to be part of this project at the club and to see it through from the beginning to final completion. It is fantastic that Hanwell Town is willing to invest in a system that you would expect to see at a club a lot higher in the football pyramid."

This investment by the club was made in conjunction with the Premier League and the FA Facilities fund- managed through the Football Foundation.

Where next?

Bostik Rocks! Hanwell sign a pop star, whilst Margate team up with The Libertines
Your favourite Bostik Away Ground- the results! We've been asking supporters from all of our clubs to vote for their favourite away grounds. So, which is better? There's only one way to find out!

Hanwell Town Video playlist

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