ROCHDALE HORNETS chairman Andy Mazey says the benefits of playing on a new pitch at the club’s Crown Oil Arena home will far outweigh any inconvenience caused by its installation.

Worried that the state of the waterlogging-prone surface could derail their bid to win promotion from the National League back to the Football League, stadium owners Rochdale Football Club have decided to take urgent action and change it immediately.

Work will soon start on a full rebuild, which involves ripping up the old pitch, putting in new drainage and a gravel bed and laying the new turf, which like most modern surfaces, will include artificial fibres.

Having already suffered two postponements, the football club have been using pitch covers to help ensure games go ahead, but explained: “The pitch has performed worse than expected, sooner than expected, to such a degree that we had no confidence we would be able to complete our scheduled fixtures this season without immediate action.

“We have been deploying the inflatable MacLeod Cover system for recent fixtures, which has proved invaluable. However, it is not, in our view, a viable solution for a sustained period of time and would ultimately not have prevented the continued deterioration of the playing surface over the winter months.”

The work is due to take five weeks, with an alternative venue required for two home matches before a return to the Crown Oil Arena for the visit of Truro City on Saturday, January 24.

Hornets’ first match at the venue, where they have a long-term agreement to play, is the Championship game against Workington Town on Sunday, February 1, and 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, but that is far less likely to happen now.”

Saved from liquidation last year by a £2million 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, who moved to the stadium, then known as Spotland, in 1988 after selling their Athletic Grounds home to stave off financial problems, are aiming to make their mark in the new expanded second tier.

Their opening game is away to Swinton Lions on Sunday, January 18.