ROCHDALE will stage their first home Championship match of the campaign against Workington on Sunday on a new pitch at the Crown Oil Arena.
Hornets, 12-8 winners at Swinton in their first outing, are tenants of Rochdale Football Club, who took the unusual step of installing a new surface during a season because they were worried the waterlogging-prone old one could derail their bid to win promotion from the National League back to the Football League.
Frustrated by a series of postponements, Dale decided on a full rebuild, ripping up the old pitch, putting in new drainage and a gravel bed and laying the new turf, which like most modern surfaces, includes artificial fibres.
The work took around a month, with the football club playing their sole home match during that period, against Hartlepool at Accrington, where they lost 2-1.
Dale should also have faced Brackley at Accrington, 15 miles away, but that match was postponed due to a frozen pitch.
Because further work to establish the new pitch will take place from late May and run for up to nine weeks, ten of Hornets’ next twelve league games are at home.
The football club’s managing director Andy Duff confirmed: “The pitch is fully installed and performing well.
“Measuring the amount of water passing through the turf is a key metric, and the new pitch is achieving an average filtration rate of 500mm per hour. That compares to less than 5mm per hour with the old pitch.
“Spectators will see some joins in the turf, but these are purely cosmetic and will improve when the grass starts to grow again in March’s warmer weather.
“We have a large number of home fixtures in the 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 Hornets games to play before the summer pitch renovation commences around May 25.
“This work is being completed by the same group of companies who installed our new pitch and who will remain active consultants for the club in the next twelve to 18 months.”
Hornets Chairman Andy Mazey said: “We have a good relationship with the football club. We have been in close contact with them throughout this process, and we are looking forward to playing on a far-more robust pitch.
“I was actually concerned that with the nature of the old pitch, we could have faced potential postponements early in our season.”
Saved from liquidation in 2024 by a £2 million takeover by local family the Ogdens, the football club are now thriving and hoping for a return to the Football League, where they played from 1921 until 2023.
Hornets moved to the stadium, then known as Spotland, in 1988 after selling their Athletic Grounds home to stave off financial problems.