Winter Sports
“We have always been keen to work with the council, and not against them, if it’s for the good of the community,” Graham stresses. “Yet the building of the new school would leave us without a home, so a resolution had to be sought.” The council decided to finance the
relocation of the club, and a suitable site was sourced nearby in The Drive, Ilford, and the relocation rubber stamped when Redbridge Council, who paid for the new £6.2m development, announced a date to build the academy school. Frenford agreed the move from its home at Cricklefields - whilst retaining its second site at their 19-acre Oakfields premises in Barkingside - to the new location; a move that meant it could bring all its activities on to one site. The relocation proved to be a lucky
break for the club, who were in need of updating their tired facility but had little funds to do so, recalls Graham. “At Cricklefields, we had only a small sports hall for five-a-side football and indoor activities, but it was in real need of a facelift.”
”The move enabled us to get brand
new, state-of-the-art facilities that would offer huge long-term value to our members and allow us to offer a greater service to more children.” The new pavilion forms the
centrepiece of the council-funded development and is named after founder, Jack Carter. Redbridge Mayor, Councillor Jim O’Shea, unveiled a plaque recording the event, and Reverend Kester, Chaplain to Frenford, also conducted a blessing of the building.
The new 2,200m2 headquarters and
sports facility is more than double the original size and now includes an indoor gym, dance studio, function room, clubroom and sports hall for basketball, netball, badminton and indoor cricket. Outside, will be cricket nets, two multi- use games areas, two senior football pitches, two cricket squares, two rugby pitches and a large car park. The Jack Carter pavilion at the Oakfields site has been renamed the Oakfield Pavilion, allowing the club to retain its tradition of always naming the headquarters after their founder.
Oakfields playing fields were first
acquired in 1998, following the decision to find a new ground that would allow Frenford to accommodate the two sports that had always been at its core - football, with five senior men’s teams and a host of juniors, and cricket, which hosts County Premier League matches. The site was secured through the London Borough of Redbridge, but facilities didn’t cater for the number of members, so the club applied for a National Lottery grant for the construction of a new pavilion and changing rooms - an application that was successful to the tune of £750,000 funding.
The money was partly acquired with the help of London Youth and the Essex Association of Boys and Girls Clubs (whose chief executive is chairman of the management committee at Frenford, and once a boy member), both bodies that Graham has linked closely with over his years at the club. “As an organisation that prides itself
on promoting youth sport and activity, it’s always been our desire to work alongside those that share a common goal. Both of these have been instrumental in us sourcing grants through the National Lottery, the Variety Club and some through the local authority,” he explains. The fortunes of the Frenford Clubs
were given another massive boost following completion of the relocation to their new home in Ilford, with the news that Premiership club, Tottenham Hotspur FC, who were deep into the development of a new training ground at Bull’s Cross, Enfield, were scouting for an appropriate site to house their academy side until the completion of the new training base in 2012. “We heard they were looking for somewhere that not only fitted their locality, but also one that would offer the scope of facilities for the parents of their academy players,” explains Graham. “Spurs got in touch with us when they saw that we were one of the few clubs that could offer what they wanted, and close by the ground. Our new development, with its modern pavilion, and the fact that we had the Oakfields
“We heard they were looking for somewhere that not only fitted their locality, but also one that would offer the scope of
facilities for the parents of their academy players”
C-Range professional mowing and turf maintenance system
• Ideal for bowls and golf clubs, contractors and other turf professionals
• Choose from 510mm (20in), 610mm (24in) and 864mm (34in) working widths
• Start off with just one cartridge head and add others as needed or when budget permits
Uses quickly-interchangeable, precision cartridge heads, enabling one machine to cut grass (with or without grooming) and to scarify, verticut, slit, brush or lightly spike fine turf.
Phone 01889 271503 or email
sales@allett.co.uk for more information and a no-obligation demonstration.
www.allett.co.uk 6-blade cylinder 10-blade with groomer 10-blade cylinder Brush Scarifier Slitter Sorrell Roller Verticutter DECEMBER/JANUARY 2012 PC 63
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88 |
Page 89 |
Page 90 |
Page 91 |
Page 92 |
Page 93 |
Page 94 |
Page 95 |
Page 96 |
Page 97 |
Page 98 |
Page 99 |
Page 100 |
Page 101 |
Page 102 |
Page 103 |
Page 104 |
Page 105 |
Page 106 |
Page 107 |
Page 108 |
Page 109 |
Page 110 |
Page 111 |
Page 112 |
Page 113 |
Page 114 |
Page 115 |
Page 116 |
Page 117 |
Page 118 |
Page 119 |
Page 120 |
Page 121 |
Page 122 |
Page 123 |
Page 124 |
Page 125 |
Page 126 |
Page 127 |
Page 128 |
Page 129 |
Page 130 |
Page 131 |
Page 132 |
Page 133 |
Page 134 |
Page 135 |
Page 136 |
Page 137 |
Page 138 |
Page 139 |
Page 140 |
Page 141 |
Page 142 |
Page 143 |
Page 144 |
Page 145 |
Page 146 |
Page 147 |
Page 148 |
Page 149 |
Page 150 |
Page 151 |
Page 152 |
Page 153 |
Page 154 |
Page 155 |
Page 156