Clubs battle to prepare pitches ahead of new season
Clubs battle to prepare pitches ahead of new season
Elise Le Lacheur - GuernseyFri, August 14, 2026 at 5:10 AM UTC
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St Martin's Football Club is trying to get grass ready with limited sprinklers
The hot weather and dry conditions have left local football clubs struggling to maintain their pitches before the start of the season.
Clubs in Guernsey said they were trying to maintain their surfaces, but with limited equipment and funding, are finding it hard to water all areas of the ground.
Due to the lack of water, with just 5.4mm (0.2 inches) of rainfall recorded on the island in July, and with league games rolling around soon, it is less likely the grass will be in the condition that players want.
North groundsman Simon Jackson said: "Last year was bad, this year has been unprecedented, I can't remember a time [since] my son has been playing at the club and it's been as bad as this."
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The wicket at the KGV playing fields is green after it was covered
Jackson added: "We have sprinklers going for three hours at night, and ziplines to get the areas which are looking the worst, but we are on a well and there is only a certain amount of water in that well, so we are trying to manage as best as we can."
St Martin's AC club director Ben Hunter said: "If we had a week of rain it (the grass) would pop up in about 10 days, you can start to see green patches where we have watered it but it's hard as when we start having players on there every night, it's hard to recover."
The KGV playing fields in Cobo are used throughout the football and cricket seasons.
Club director Stuart Le Prevost said: "With it being 30+ degrees we have the cover over it to stop the wicket cracking ahead of the next few matches."
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Hottest July for Guernsey since records began
Heat alert for South West raised to amber
No current plans for water use restrictions
Source: “AOL Sports”
