SPENNYMOOR Town will be playing on a Football League quality surface in next season’s National League North campaign.

The club has been plagued with pitch issues for the last two years, forcing postponements and depleting the quality of the surface at the Brewery Field.

After dealing with the source of the issues over the last six months, it has been decided to start from scratch and install a state-of-the-art pitch befitting of a club with lofty ambitions to progress up the football pyramid.

Work began in the last week of May to completely strip layers off the surface and reduce the gradient from South to North. New irrigation systems and 20 pop-up sprinklers have now been installed and the ground is being prepared for the new seeded ryegrass.

The mammoth project is being overseen by experienced Head Groundsman Mark Sleightholme, who has worked with this calibre of pitch before at Sunderland AFC.

He said: “The Brewery Field is almost unrecognisable at the moment. We’ve removed the perimeter fence, chopped down some of the trees encroaching over the wall behind the South goal and completely bulldozed the pitch.

“It looks like a beach right now, with more than 700 tonnes of sand currently being rolled out. But when it’s complete it’s going to be a surface to be proud of.”

Tony Wilson, Managing Director, said: “It’s pretty much common knowledge that the club is investing heavily in the stadium. We’ve said that the coming season has to show how far we can take Spennymoor Town FC.

“There are a lot more developments planned for the ground, which we’ll announce when they have begun, but this is a fantastic start. It’s already having a transformative effect, even before the new grass is in.

“We’ve radically lowered our season ticket prices and we’ve invested six figures in improving the Brewery Field for match days. We’re doing everything we can.

“But I’ve said the next bit already. We really need the support of County Durham and non-league football fans to take this club onwards. It’s going to be a fantastic season, so I’d urge anyone thinking about it to take the plunge and purchase one of our season tickets, which we believe will provide the best value for money football experience in the North East, bar none.”

Spennymoor’s fixtures for the 2019/20 season will be released early in June, whilst their pre-season schedule has already been announced, beginning with a trip to Stockton Town on Wednesday 3 July.

The club announced radically-reduced season ticket prices a fortnight ago, lowering the average cost across age groups by more than 30 per cent. Adult tickets for 2019/20 cost £150, concessions (over 60s) cost £110 and juniors (under 18s) cost £30. A family of two adults and one junior costs £300 and a family of two adults and two juniors costs £320.