New pitch, new era: The Showgrounds transformed over the summer

Anyone who’s walked past The Showgrounds this summer will have seen it: the old pitch dug up, the ground stripped back to bare stone, and — over a few remarkable weeks — a brand new all-weather surface rolled out in its place. With Premiership football returning to Limavady for the first time since 2008, the club has used the close season to give the ground itself an upgrade to match the occasion.

It’s been a big job. Below is the story of the summer in pictures, from the last days of the old grass pitch through to a finished surface ready for its first competitive action.

The old grass pitch at The Showgrounds, viewed from the stand — Before: the grass pitch that hosted Roesiders football for decades, pictured from the stand.

Aerial view of the pitch stripped back to bare stone during renovation — Stripped right back — the old surface removed down to the stone base.

Wide aerial view of groundworks underway at The Showgrounds — Groundworks underway, with machinery in place across the width of the pitch.

Machinery grading and shaping the base layer of the new pitch — Grading and shaping the base layer ahead of the new surface going down.

The new pitch nearing completion, with markings laid and grass green — Nearing completion — surface down, markings in, and the goals back up.

The Showgrounds pictured ahead of a pre-season friendly on the new pitch — Put to the test — the new surface hosting its first pre-season friendly at The Showgrounds.

The timing means the new pitch has had a full pre-season to bed in before Limavady United’s first Premiership fixtures kick off. Everyone at the club — committee, volunteers and contractors alike — has put in a serious effort to get The Showgrounds ready, and the response from players and supporters who’ve seen it in person has been extremely positive.

See the Match Centre for the first chance to watch the new surface in competitive action, and the Visit & Location page for directions to The Showgrounds.