New Pitch Campaign

Saturday 20th March 2010

Llangennech AFC is in the process of applying to build a new pitch at Cae Fainc; adjacent to Penllwyngwyn Road, behind Cleviston Park.

The club put forward the proposal at a meeting with County and Community Councillors on 30 September 2010.  At present the club is looking to secure a grant for a feasibility study on the land to be conducted.

Why Does The Club Need A New Pitch?

The club has been looking to develop its own playing facilities in the village since the early 1990s, and with an ever-increasing junior section, a new pitch is vital if the club is to continue to grow.

At present the club plays its home games at Llangennech Recreation Park.  The pitch there doubles up as a rugby pitch and when both of the village’s rugby and football clubs are scheduled to be home at the same time, one club has to find an alternative venue.

Between them the rugby and football clubs now have 9 junior age teams each as well as 2 adult football sides and 3 adult rugby sides.  This means as well as being used regularly for training, the park pitch is also used for games on Saturdays and Sunday mornings.  Needless to say, the standard of the playing surface has suffered as a result.

This season, Llangennech AFC has been forced to play junior games outside the village for the first time due to the increasing number of teams that we run.  "Home" matches have been played at Penygaer and Hendy, putting extra workload on parents and coaches to transport players and equipment.  The sense of playing at home has been lost and naturally, given our status as a village club, we would prefer to play all games within the village.

The club has 176 registered players and only has shared use of one pitch within the village.

What's Happened So Far?

When it was announced in 2005 that the Ministry of Defence would be vacating their site in Llangennech, the club tried to get a piece of the land for new playing facilities.  When the site was sold by Carmarthenshire County Council to R&A Properties in April 2009, a clause in the contract stated that an area of land within the site was to be designated for a football pitch.  This area can be bought for £1 at any time until May 2014.

An area was earmarked, roughly the size of a minimum dimension football pitch with no extra room for a car park or changing facilities.  Unhappy with this proposal, the owners of R&A properties, Mr Nigel Lovering and Mr David Pickering instead offered to provide an alternative site for the new football pitch.

On 9 June 2010, representatives of the Football Club met with County Councillors, Community Councillors, Mr Pickering and Mr Lovering.  A site between Tirgof and the Community Centre was suggested.  A study later showed this site to be far too costly to bring up to standard for a football pitch.

What’s The Latest?

On 30 September 2010 at another meeting between the Football Club, County and Community Councillors, the football club put forward its official proposal for the site at Cae Fainc.

The land is owned by Carmarthenshire County Council, which means Mr Pickering and Mr Lovering could be asked to help fund the development of facilities rather than the purchase of land.  Given the landscape of the field, the cost of developing facilities including the pitch should also be relatively low.

The club proposes to develop car parking and changing facilities on site as well as a full size football pitch.