“I wouldn’t put cattle in some of the changing rooms ...”
London 2012 is the spark for a multi-million pound upgrade of the ‘home of grass-roots football’ marked by wider sporting provision and more intensive use, reports Tom James
HACKNEY Marshes, one of Britain’s most renowned community sports resources, is to receive a multi-million pound facelift under plans newly unveiled.
And not before time it seems. “I wouldn’t put cattle in some of the changing rooms,” was the reaction of one official after a tour of the facilities last year.
The impetus for improvement has come from the London 2012 Games and
the part that Hackney and the Marshes will play in the provision for it. The 73 sports pitches, mainly laid out for football, but also for rugby, are 50% underutilised according to one estimate, despite the fact that some 1,500 players play there on Sundays - a factor that has kept the ravages of intensive use at bay, resulting in surfaces that are generally considered to be “pretty good” according to a technical advisor at the Football Foundation, which has been working closely with Hackney council for two years on finalising a development strategy for the Marshes.
Hackney Marshes can lay claim to being recognised worldwide as the home of grassroots football. They are, reportedly, the largest expanse of playing fields in Europe and have, over time, become almost a CV requirement for many of today’s professional footballers, with such top players as David Beckham and earlier, Terry Venables, having
played there at one time or another in their youth. As metropolitan open land, the Marshes are protected from commercial or residential development. However, the strategy is understood to involve plans to incorporate other sports and leisure facilities on the area. Survival is vital. Research by the London Green Party revealed that the equivalent of 1,500 pitches had been lost in the last 10 years in London. The report said that the decline in green spaces was especially acute in east London. The Marshes are one of the few remaining playing fields in inner London.
The vision is to increase intensification of use and to boost weekday activities. This, in turn, will place greater emphasis on the need for quality pitch care and provision. A sportsturf agronomist is understood to have surveyed the site and to be preparing a report for Hackney
REBIRTH FOR T
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