More members welcome at Market Harborough Rugby Club after project to install £250,000 floodlights is completed

A £250,000 project to install floodlights at Market Harborough Rugby Club has been completed.

The community-run club has seen all five of its pitches lit up which volunteers say means it can welcome more members.

It currently has some 500 players in teams from children’s to seniors, which meant extensive use of the two pitches which were lit previously.

Spokesman Mike Fletcher said: “More than half these members are using our grass to train on three evenings a week, but only one and a half of our training pitches were lit. Even then they could not be lit if the main pitch lights were on due to limitations on the power supply.

"This meant that one and a half of the pitches were significantly overused - facing all the training demand and up to three matches each at a weekend. We lost access to our pitches due to wear and this affected our ability to train and play, or to train at all if there was an evening match.”

To combat the issue the club looked at lighting more pitches using low energy technology.

But it also meant extra power would need to be delivered to the club to cope with demand.

Funding was provided by Harborough District Council housing developer 106 contributions, Market Harborough and the Bowdens Charity, Howard Watson Symington Charity and the Harborough District Leisure Trust.

And Mike said the club can now welcome more members as the pitches can be used for longer.

He added: “We brought a second power supply onto the site that futureproofs our energy needs and changed all old lighting to energy efficient LED technology.

“Instead of one and a half training pitches, we now have four training pitches, plus an off-pitch lit training area, This is in addition to our main match pitch, so five floodlit pitches in total.

“Already we are seeing the benefits by rotating training that the pitches are in much better condition.

“This project will increase the time we can use our pitches and increase participation for all members of the community who wish to give rugby a go.”

Email [email protected] for more information about joining the club.