Club officials at Mangotsfield United have claimed that an upgraded Cossham Street will provide “a breath of fresh air” for the club and the community, as the Field prepare to return for their first home game of the 2024-25 season in a few weeks’ time.
The club’s home ground has been under redevelopment over the past five months, though Chairman Steve Brown has confirmed that the Mangoes are on track for a home return against Slimbridge on Saturday, November 23, so long as no late issues arise.
“There’s still a little bit more work to be done around the ground, just to tidy it up and to sort the floodlights, but there’s not much,” he admitted, “All being well, and as long as we sort the lights and the council approve all of the pre-use conditions, then we should be getting the handover next Wednesday.”
“We hope that people are going to come up for that first game to have a look at the ground, watch the game, and everything else, and then if we can, keep those people coming back knowing that there will be a home game almost every week,” he added.
The highlights of the renovations are the installation of a new all-weather 3G pitch, as well as replacing the floodlights, allowing the ground to see increased usage, not just by the men’s first team but also by the junior teams, women’s teams, and the wider community.
Speaking after the open evening that the club held on Thursday night, men’s first-team manager Glyn Ashton was especially pleased with the response from local residents and supporters.
“The support has been amazing,” he expressed, “We didn’t know what to expect tonight, but when you turn up and see the car park full and lots of people mulling around, people are starting to get excited about coming up here to watch football now.
“Obviously, that’s a big part of what the improvements are going to bring, getting supporters through the gate and interested in not just the men’s first-team but all of the teams that are playing up here.”
Great to be back at Cossham Street tonight to see how developments have gone over the past five months 🏟️
— George Townsend (@GeorgeTJourno) November 7, 2024
Incredible work @MangotsfieldUtd 👏 pic.twitter.com/PmEQrsc6do
Engagement with local residents, groups and schools is also one of the club’s key priorities once the ground re-opens to the public in a couple of weeks’ time.
“We’re hoping that we’ll have people come and use the ground for all sorts of sporting things, not just football, and hopefully we’ll get more people through the door here using it for the social aspect as well,” Ashton stated.
“We’re looking at walking football, the juniors, the women’s teams across the age groups, and we’ve also been talking to local schools who we want to use it for various things, whether that be school matches, summer sports days, or other things, and once it’s available, we just hope that people ask us not just football enquiries, but if they can use it for XYZ and hopefully, we can accommodate most things.
“It’s a good facility, and it’s probably not been used as much as it should have been, but hopefully we’ll see the benefits from it now – not just the football team, but the wider community, and we just think that the whole thing will reinvigorate the whole site so that can be used for lots of different things, not just football and sport.
“It’s given an opportunity to grow the club where it’s been restricted for so long,” Brown added, “It was confined by what facilities it had, and now it’s just got this breath of fresh air and this new lease of life that it can just start to grow naturally.”
Photo: Emerson’s Green Voice
Ashton also declared how impressed he has been with the improvements to the ground, and also spoke about the positive impact of the renovations for supporters.
“The contractors have made a really good job of it. From our point of view, it incorporates the old with the new, so we’ve got the old stands and some of the other features that the ground has had for many years and they’ve managed to knit it in with the new areas.
“The tarmac finishing around the edge of the ground has worked out better as well as we’ve now got less steps around the ground, and it’s much more accessible, so disabled access is now just straight in from the car park, and the views of the ground are great as well.”
The club also have added new technical areas, along with two new stands on either side, each with a capacity of around 90 spectators.
If you’re interested in using the upgraded facility at Cossham Street, inquiries can be made at info@blackhorsesca.co.uk.
