Being a wandering side has its advantages. No need for a lawnmower, a roller, a hose pipe or a tin of line marking paint, let alone having to organise a rota to ensure that the weekly chores are attended to. But all this is far outweighed by the benefits of having a home. Somewhere to train and practice, somewhere to play when we want, for as long as we want, and somewhere where friends, family, supporters and the local community can come along when the sun's out and spend a few hours on a Sunday afternoon.
Hardly surprising then that we too felt the need to find a home. The pitch played on until the 1970's is now home to the Bowls and Tennis clubs, so with the agreement of the Parish Council, we set out to improve the state and conditions of the Wolverton Road playing fields, to provide a pitch for the Club and at the same time improve the quality of the football pitch that the Snitterfield football teams play on. As with much in the Club, little of this would have got of the ground but for the unfailing effort put in by Lee and without the generous contributions made by the community at large. By any standards it was a major undertaking, requiring a considerable sum of money.
As with any project of this ilk, it is never truly finished, but to give you an idea of what we have achieved so far.....
Having checked out a few quotes and prices, we decided that we would be able to get more for the funds we have, if we did the work ourselves.
We had a fair assortment of talent on hand and for anything we didn't know, we knew someone that did. As a result of this we were able to arrange for a steel fabricator to produce the modular sections required for the Practice Nets frame, which we duly assembled and concreted in ourselves. The local tarmac company provided the hard base at a very good rate, so when this was combined with some roll-up matting and netting which we had been given, we ended up with a first class Practice Net at a fraction of the cost of one out of the catalogue.
The services of farmers, seedsmen, groundworkers and so on, were sought to plough, level and re-seed the majority of the field, to take away the slope and undulations and provide us with a starting point for the wicket. Here too, after receiving several proposals and quotations from specialists, we decided that we would be able to lay three wickets ourselves and still save on the cost of having one laid professionally. As it turned out we were able to lay four!
For those involved it was backbreaking and monotonous work, but it was all worth it and now we have the facilities to host regular Sunday and midweek matches on a set of wickets that only a few seasons in, hold the promise of becoming very good indeed.
With the help of additional funding and the talent and skill of our friends and supporters, we have been able to lay drainage to the perimeter of the outfield and square, resulting in a huge improvement in the drainage of the entire field.
The transformation of the scruffy eye-sore that was the former youth club into the forest green changing rooms and pavilion, owes much to the generosity of Steve Lewis, MD of local company ICM Limited. Steve was one of the village's driving forces behind the boys football teams and the Snitterfield Sports Club as a whole.
Check out our Gallery section to see pictures of the ground development.