Cressy Recreation Ground committee president Peter Goss reckons the footy field is in fine condition in readiness for the first match to be played there in 10 years on Saturday, June 15.
With the assistance of Northern Midlands Council staff, he’s been preparing the surface, as he’s done for many years, for the Bracknell versus Bridgenorth NTFA match in round 10.
Peter is one of a select few knowledgeable men who have volunteered over the years as groundsmen — men like Wayne Morris and Morris Seadon (who died in October).
“It’s watered in summer, the grass is cut a couple of times a week, the boundary is marked out – they’re the main jobs,” Peter said.
“Marking it out takes about three hours – that’s what I was doing in the dark the other night in readiness for the first game of school football.”
Peter played mini league, seconds and seniors for Cressy, and is a life member. There’s no way of counting how many hours of his life he’s spent at the Cressy football ground – but it would be a lot and the connection is generational.
“My three sons, Johnno, Jamie and Sam have played here with Bracknell – in fact Jamie has just turned 37 and he’s played two games for Bracknell in the seconds this season when they’ve been short – I said he should play this game but I’m not sure he will.
“Three or four of my grandchildren will be in the under 12 game so that will be great to see.”
Bracknell Football Club initiated the return of football to Cressy, with many of its players coming from the Cressy area but never having the opportunity to play on what would have once been their home ground.
The Redlegs versus Parrots match will be the first since Fingal played Evandale at Cressy in 2014.
There will be an under 12s game between Bracknell and Cressy at 10.30am, with the Redlegs coached by Justin Curbishley and Corey Jones and the Bulldogs coached by Jamie Goss.
The reserves play Bridgenorth at 12 noon and the seniors are on at 2pm. The ground has had about $10,000 spent on it to cover the cricket pitch, the lights have been upgraded, and aside from schools sports the ground has more than proven its worth as a backup for Longford.
“It’s a good ground and the facilities here are fantastic,” Peter said. “Hopefully it will be a huge turnout next weekend and a close game of footy.”
Facebook will soon block the majority of local news in your feed but that’s no reason to miss out.
Get your news straight from the horse’s mouth: https://fontpublishing.com.au/category/the-northern-midlands-courier/
For digital subscriptions of the weekly paper, follow the website links.