Pitching High

TIVERTON Town have unveiled their community-focused vision of the future, centred on a FIFA-approved all-weather playing surface that will be ready for the 2025-26 football season.

The Pitching In Southern League club's Executive Committee presented their ideas on Tuesday night to a packed meeting at the Ian Moorcroft Stadium that included the Mayor of Tiverton, Neal Davey.

As well as the introduction of a 3G synthetic grass pitch that replicates the feel and playing characteristics of natural turf, the club plans major improvements to the ground's infrastructure.

Tivvy vice-chairman Matthew Conridge said: "Our aim is to transform the ground so that it becomes a facility and a hub, not only for Tiverton Town, but for the town of Tiverton.

"Initially, in addition to the pitch installation, we will be focusing our energies on four key upgrades: the creation of new changing-rooms behind the main stand; the redevelopment of the existing changing-rooms; LED floodlights; and solar panel installation."

The change to the playing surface will enable Tivvy to share use of it with local clubs and youth organisations, as well it being used to train and play by the club's own teams.

Presciently, the Committee has already taken steps to future-proof the club's potential growth.

Matthew said: "We are looking at a high-quality FIFA Pro pitch that will allow us to progress up the leagues. We could have gone for a slightly lower quality pitch, which would have been cheaper but would have prevented us from going up any further in the league.

"It is a higher quality pitch than the normal pitches and it will be one of the best pitches in the South West of the country."

The club now hopes to bring together interested parties from across the locale, including politicians, the business community and youth organistions, to unite as a team-of-all-talents and bring the plans to fruition.

A follow-up Tiverton Town: the Future meeting is already planned for February, and anyone who would like to become involved with the project can get in touch with the club by email at contact@tivertontownfc.co.uk.

The Committee will be making further announcements over the next few days about their ambitious plans for the club's exciting transformation.