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02
Dec
Harrogate Railway reveal plans for 3G pitch
Harrogate Railway AFC have revealed initial plans to install an artificial 3G pitch at its Station View home in Starbeck.
The ambitious semi-professional club owns about eight acres of grassland at Station View.
It wants to lay a 3G pitch, at an estimated cost of £1.2 million, so it can serve the community better.
The club currently has two pitches. One is used by the football club; the other is used by Harrogate Pythons Rugby Union Football Club.
Football club chairman Rob Northfield said the artificial pitch would go on the pitch used for rugby.
However, Harrogate Pythons holds a 12-year lease on the pitch proposed for development.
Mr Northfield said the football club would hold discussions with Harrogate Pythons to try to bring them on board.
The 3G pitch would be mainly used by Harrogate Railway’s junior and women’s sides.
Harrogate Railway’s first team would still play on the grass pitch after development.
Mr Northfield said the project would make the club more of a community hub.
He added:
When I came to the club in May, the first thing I did was to bring the club together with the ladies and the juniors and anybody who wanted to be involved. So we brought them on board. The juniors coming on board came to us with a proposal: wanting to put a 3G pitch down at Railway. So we're in those discussions now, those early discussions.
We are a community club, but I don't think we're a true community yet because we can't serve the community as well as we'd like.
Railway co-manager Rob Youhill said having fewer teams playing on the grass pitch would help to protect it.
Rob Youhill (right) and co-manager Fraser Lancaster.
He added that other teams in their league have similar facilities:
Goole play on a 3G pitch, and they use their pitch for rugby as well. I don’t play rugby, I definitely wouldn’t want to play on a 3G pitch, but you’re still allowed to play on it. As per the guidelines, it still states that you can. And, to be fair, the one we went to at Goole had so much more space, because there was so much more run off, that it was even better than a normal standard-size football pitch. So we’ll see where we go with that.
There’s a few hurdles to cross. But it’s right at the start, which feels really positive.
Look for a full interview with Rob Northfield and Rob Youhill in the next few days.
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