Mayor cuts ribbon on new council-owned park pitch

A NEW £1m 3G football pitch was officially opened at Jubilee Park in Henley.

Mayor Tom Buckley cut a white ribbon on Saturday and was joined by residents who had pitch-themed cakes, refreshments and entertainment.

A team of young AFC Henley players ended the ceremony with a friendly “kickabout” on the new all-weather pitch.

The facility was funded by £300,000 of council money with £700,000 of grants from the Premier League, the Football Association and the Government’s Football Foundation.

Cllr Buckley said: “This fantastic new 3G facility is the result of real teamwork. It will encourage more people of all ages to get active, train, and enjoy sport in Henley throughout the year.”

Construction, carried out by McArdle Sport Tec, started in April this year and the pitch was open for bookings at the end of Summer. The 91m by 55m pitch was the joint project of AFC Henley and the town council. The football team had previously shared a substandard pitch with Henley Hockey Club, which also welcomed the new pitch as it would allow it more training time on the pre-existing turf.

Former AFC Henley Chair, Trevor Howell, who spearheaded the project about eight years ago, said it had doubled the team’s capacity for training in the evenings during Winter.

He said: “The real benefit for us was having more capacity for training under lights during the week.

“By the end of the winter of course you can’t train on the grass in the evenings so what this has done is effectively doubled the capacity down at Jubilee Park for training under lights.”