Cambridge City take on maintenance of pitch at their new FWD-IP Community Stadium in Sawston

Cambridge City have reached another significant milestone as the countdown continues towards the opening of their new stadium in Sawston.

Plenty of progress has been made at the FWD-IP Community Stadium in recent weeks, the most notable of which has been the completion of the main pitch.

AT Bone, who were in charge of the installation of the playing surface, have now handed the process of maintaining the pitch over to the club until the rest of the development is complete.

The 3G pitch at the facility is also close to being ready for use, with club directors recently undergoing training with regards to how to use the maintenance machinery.

And with the date for its first use drawing ever closer, technical experts have visited the ground to ensure it is up to the necessary FIFA grading.

“As each stage of work gets completed, it marks another step closer to use moving into the FWD-IP Community Stadium,” said City chairman Kevin Satchell.

“Cataloguing each stage in the process may seem small in the bigger picture of the project, but they are definitely not insignificant.

“With the main pitch being handed over to the club, and the possibility of being able to use the 3G pitch moving onto the horizon, it is exciting to see our new home develop step by step.”

In other developments, the standing terraces have now been finished, which means that the roof, crush barrier and guttering have all been added. The base course of tarmac throughout the site has also been finished.

Despite several delays faced by contractors Stadium Solutions, they are currently completing the steel frame of the main stand with the cold rolled purlins before cladding to complete a watertight structure, and it is hoped that there may be just a month left of work on this aspect of the build.

Meanwhile, there was more good news for City on the pitch at the weekend as they recorded a 2-1 victory over Loughborough Dynamo at their current home Bridge Road.

Both of City’s goals came from new signings, with the deadlock being broken by Tom Waumsley, who joined the club last week from Stamford.

A 72nd-minute penalty courtesy of the visitors’ Kevin Da Silva Bastos levelled up the scoreline, but the hosts sealed all three points seven minutes from time through debutant Daniel Cotton.

The attacker has arrived from Yaxley, for whom he scored 215 goals in 336 appearances.

The victory has moved Robbie Nightingale’s men up to 14th in the Pitching In Northern League Midlands Division table ahead of Saturday’s (November 19) trip to Chasetown.

City have also confirmed that young forward Connor Barnes has signed for Histon on a dual registration basis.

Barnes recently scored for City in their home league victory over Yaxley.