Wilmslow Rugby Club has replaced the old wooden uprights which have held up floodlights for fifty years or so with eight gleaming steel uprights. Four of which are located around the main pitch with television standard 200 Lux lighting and the other four, with 100 Lux lighting, are around the second pitch.
Installation of the new floodlights was made possible thanks to a substantial donation from a long standing member, which was then matched with an award from the RFU's Lead Up and Legacy Fund for the 2015 Rugby World Cup - to be held this autumn in England and Wales. Wilmslow RUFC is just one of 500 RFU sponsored Lead Up and Legacy Centres in England.
The floodlight installation is the culmination of gradual improvements to The Memorial Ground which have been made over the last ten years. These include a new function suite, a decked viewing terrace, refurbished changing rooms, a physio hut, a new mini pitch on a previously derelict corner of the ground, a running track around the perimeter of the ground, solar panels on the clubhouse roof and resurfacing of the car park.
All of this work has been done without RUFC having to borrow a penny, instead the club has been able to match grants that were available from the RFU and, not least, from the very popular Wilmslow Half Marathon.
Club Chairman, Jon Hitch said "We were delighted when this project won the approval of our constituent body, Cheshire RFU, and received planning permission from Cheshire East Council. We've come a long way in recent years to build the kind of club we've always wanted Wilmslow to be and it's gratifying that our playing standards throughout the club should now be higher than they've been for many many years since the halcyon days of the early 1970s.
"The new floodlights represent just the latest step in the journey and should help the players and their coaches, here to take another step forward in improving the rugby experience at the club. The facility will also be available for use by Wilmslow High School and by any of the local prep and primary schools in the locality.
"The World Cup will clearly generate an increased interest in the game, so the new floodlighting will help us to properly welcome newcomers. Nevertheless, there's always more to be done. We can't rest on our laurels."
Photo: Secretary Rob Milner and Club Chairman Jon Hitch pointing out part of the new installation.
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