Sandal Rugby Club in Wakefield, Yorkshire has entered a new exciting era in their long history with two new pitches constructed by Souters Sports.

Following a competitive tendering process, the contractor worked closely alongside consultant John Hacker from Professional Sportsturf Design (NW), with funding coming from the Rugby Football Union.


Souters Sports has recently completed the construction of two pitches for Sandal Rugby Club in Wakefield, West Yorkshire

After spraying off the area, the area was then ploughed, subsoiled and cultivated. The areas were then trimmed with a level frame utilising the current topsoil depths to grade out any undulations. A mains and lateral drainage system was then installed followed by Koro Top Drain Sand Slits by Souters' in-house team.

The area was then finally cultivated and trimmed using specialist rota rakes in several directions to provide an even seed bed.

Wherever possible, all material was retained on the site and special attention given to retaining the biodiversity of the area, helping to reduce the financial and environmental impact of the project. Special care was taken during the project to maintain two public footpaths during the works with fencing and signage to protect the public.

After the final cultivations and pre-seeding fertiliser application, the site was then seeded. Both pitcheswill be in full use for the 2014/15 season. Souters Sports will be carrying out the initial marking of the pitches and installing new goals at the end of October.

Careful planning of the project and communication with local farmers for an alternative access route to the site maximised the use of equipment and labour and dramatically reduced the programme to just six weeks.