Sport / Kick-off as new 3G football and rugby pitch opens to public
AN IDEA, a debate and then a reality – Shetland’s state-of-the-art synthetic 3G surface was officially opened to the public on Friday.
The £1.46 million facility, which can be used by both football and rugby players, was gleefully filled with marauding school bairns within minutes of the ribbon being cut by councillor Davie Sandison.
After well over a year of talk and uncertainty, elected members, club officials and media had the chance to walk across the sweetcorn-infilled North Loch Pitch for the first time.
It replaces the former rugby pitch – which frequently flooded and cut up in heavy rain – and will allow football and rugby to be played all-year round.
The word on everyone’s lips on Friday morning was “game-changing”.
The pitch will allow men’s and women’s teams to welcome opponents to the isles for competitive games without fear that the match will have to be called off at the last minute due to an unplayable surface.
Sandison, who is chairman of the council’s education and families committee, was a vocal backer of the project, and was given the honour of officially opening it alongside SIC sports and leisure manager Neil Watt.
He said it was “absolutely brilliant” to finally see it thrown open to the public.
“I’m really, really pleased it’s now got to this point,” he told Shetland News.
“It’s not just about the big competitive games, it’s fantastic to see the school bairns getting the use of it too. We want to give that opportunity to everybody.”
Though the project cost came to £1.46m, £690,000 of that has come from the council. The bulk of the funding has been provided by external sources such as Scottish Football Association, Scottish Rugby Union and sportscotland.
Sandison said the council would have been “absolutely stupid” to pass the opportunity up when so much funding was offered from outwith Shetland.
Debates were held in the council chamber about whether it was a good use of money – or whether there was an overprovision of football pitches already.
But Sandison said the message from Shetland’s sports clubs had been loud and clear – “you have to do this”.
“They were telling me, this is what we can do now and this is what we can do if we get this facility,” he said.
“Rugby teams were coming up here and then the game gets postponed.
“Now every team will be dying to come up here and use it. Teams were telling us, ‘we have to take this chance’.”
Another long-time advocate for the 3G pitch is former Shetland Football Association president George Smith, who now sits as treasurer on its committee.
Smith said he was “delighted” to see North Loch Pitch opened.
“It’s been a long time coming, and at times we thought it would never happen,” he said.
“But there was a big commitment from local committees and the council to make it happen.
“It’s all come together, and it’s a cracking facility.”
Smith has long championed the view that Shetland’s male footballers will continue to improve if given the chance to play mainland opposition more frequently.
He added “that has to be the ambition” now that the 3G surface is in place.
“We know that with getting teams here, there’s weather and a financial cost as well.
“But we should now be able to more games at home. Maybe we could start with a cup competition.”
Smith said he would like to see Shetland join the North Caledonian league eventually, but added that was “a bit away”.
Another key benefit for the local FA is that the pitch can be used to extend the season when the grass pitches close in September.
The Shetland women’s football team – who won the Highlands and Islands League Cup this year while playing all of their matches on the mainland – could also be able to encourage teams north for competitive action too.
Scottish Football Association’s regional manager for the Highlands and Islands, Graeme Sutherland, said the women’s team would now be able to tell cup organisers: “You can draw us at home”.
“I think the Shetland men’s and women’s teams will both take a step in the right direction,” he said.
The Scottish FA approached the SIC, he said, when a pot of funding became available for the project.
That “brought other people to the table”, he said, and suddenly all involved realised “this could be happening”.
Looking across at the entire Clickimin site, with the indoor 60:40, leisure centre, athletics track and now North Loch Pitch, Sutherland said there was “probably not a better site in Scotland” for sporting opportunities.
“This is an unbelievable asset for Shetland,” he said.
Scottish Rugby Union’s John Scott agreed, saying the effect the all-weather facility could have on rugby in the isles could be massive.
“It will allow more people to get involved and it’s a huge opportunity to get local people involved in rugby and playing in the right environment now,” he said.
“I’m really interested to see the evolution of Shetland’s style of rugby. They’ve always been quite a physical side, but I wonder if these better facilities will allow them to play faster, more attacking rugby.”
Scott said he felt Shetland needs “high quality facilities like this to keep people here”.
“We’re really proud to have provided finances for this,” he said.
“It makes complete sense for it to be used by both football and rugby so as many people can get good use out of it.”
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