The New Sports Pitches – The Story So Far

The growth and success of boys’ and girls’ football in the Parish has been wonderful to see, and this has created additional demand for playing field space. In early summer 2023 Headley Parish Council appointed a contractor to carry out works to create new football pitches on a piece of unused land at Mill Lane Playing Fields. We were delighted to be awarded funding from East Hampshire District Council to support the project.

The first phase was to level the field to enable the creation of 3 new pitches.

The earthworks get underway in June 2023.

Once levelled, the next stage was to install ‘rabbit fencing’ around the perimeter of the pitches to prevent rodent damage.

The field was seeded at the end of August and, fortunately, the weather conditions were good, and the grass took well.   By the beginning of November, the field was looking fantastic!

The final stage is to allow for the growing of the Pitches to ‘Fully Established’ status, which is estimated to be in the Late Spring of 2024. 

The above photos show the aeration works being undertaken.

The project also included the creation of an additional parking area. 

We hope to hand over the field to the Youth Football Club for the 2024 season.  We’ll keep you posted!