Managing Director, Andy Duff, has issued the following in-depth update.
“I’m pleased to share this final update on the pitch rebuild before we resume the normal day-to-day operation of the club and start a busy schedule of important home matches.
“The pitch is now fully installed and performing well. We had 13mm of rain on Sunday, which has passed through the turf overnight and leaves the surface in good condition today.
“Measuring the amount of water that passes through the turf is a key metric, and the new pitch is now achieving an average filtration rate of 500mm per hour. This is compared to a rate of less than 5mm per hour from the old pitch.
“As Charles Henderson, OBI Sports Managing Director, and I communicated at the start of the project, whilst the surface will immediately be suitable for play, supporters will see some joins in the turf. These are purely cosmetic and will improve when the grass starts to grow again in March’s warmer weather.
“This week, the grass will be worked on by our groundstaff, before it is marked up and readied for Saturday’s game against Truro City. We have a large number of home fixtures in the immediate weeks ahead, along with the start of the Rugby League season. However, we are assured the new Halo carpet can withstand this volume of games, although it will need careful management to build strength in the plant.
“Once the football season is complete, there are a small number of Rochdale Hornets games to play before the summer pitch renovation commences around the 25th May. This work will last for 8-9 weeks and is being completed by the same group of companies that installed our new pitch, under the supervision of OBI, who will remain active consultants for the club in the next 12-18 months.
“We will also receive an estimate to replace the artificial pitch surrounds before this week commences, to decide if they can be funded. Once the summer work is complete, we expect the water filtration rate to be in the region of 700-800mm per hour, which is a significant improvement.
“I would like to finish by offering a few words of thanks. Firstly, to supporters for your patience and continued support while this critical project has been undertaken. The stadium has felt very strange of the last seven weeks and it will be brilliant to restart games again at the Crown Oil Arena, with the visit or Truro this Saturday and Southend United on Tuesday 27th January.
“Secondly, I want to thank the Dale Supporters Trust and Dale 1907 group for their help as we played at home, away from home. Whilst we only managed to play one game at Accrington Stanley’s Wham Stadium, a massive amount of effort went on behind the scenes to try to make the venue as close to home as possible.
“I want to close by putting on record our thanks to OBI Sports and Mallinson, who have delivered a challenging pitch rebuild against a tight timeframe over the Christmas and New Year period. They have delivered the project ahead of time and under budget. We are grateful for their dedicated work.”