Sports ground on edge of Hucknall, used by more than 1,000 adults and kids, gets £250,000 upgrade

The latest boost has come in the shape of £30,000 from Notts County Council towards the overall cost of installing a new state-of-the-art pitch at Goosedale Sports Club to replace the aging artificial grass pitch at the Goosedale Lane site.

The playing surface was installed in 1992 but, over the years, its condition deteriorated and maintaining it became untenable.

The pitch is used by several teams, most notably Nottingham Hockey Club, in partnership with Redhill Ladies Hockey Club, both of whom had concerns about the old pitch and the safety of people using it.

But now the clubs can look forward to a bright future following the installation of the new pitch – which was officially opened at a special ceremony on September 11.

The council money has come from its Local Improvement Scheme (LIS), with the remainder of the costs being met by funding from Sport England, the National Hockey Foundation, the Tarmac Landfill Communities Fund (administered by the Derbyshire Environmental Trust) and donations from past and current club members.

Coun Chris Barnfather (Con), whose Newstead Division includes Goosedale, said “I would like to pay tribute to everyone connected with the hockey clubs and Goosedale Sports Club for their commitment to deliver this fantastic project.

“It was wonderful to see the players, including so many youngsters, enjoying the new playing surface and I would like to wish the clubs who use the facilities every success for the future.”

Goosedale is used for a number of sports, such as hockey, cricket and youth football.

Adam George, project lead at Goosedale, said: “We now have a leisure facility that will provide for sports clubs, community groups and schools for many years.”

“I would like to take this opportunity to thank key financial supporters, without which this project would not have been possible.”