The University-Mt Wellington men’s Over-30s International team will meet Metro in the first of three league matches scheduled for Saturday while a further three games will be played on Sunday.
The six clashes, including three Auckland Sunday Football Association fixtures, are the first league matches to be played in the Auckland Football Federation on artificial turf.
Dr Barbara Cox MBE, CEO and trustee of the Mt Wellington Stadium Charitable Trust, says a project which began in 2004 has finally reached the stage where a large number of Aucklanders can benefit, especially the football community.
“It’s been a very challenging journey with lots of fantastic moments but now we are here we are relieved and really excited because we now have so many opportunities,” Cox says.
Cox, who is also the club secretary of University-Mt Wellington and a life member of Auckland Football, says the project was made possible by contributions from several sources, including the Four Winds Foundation, the Mt Wellington Foundation, University-Mt Wellington club members and a large contribution in September last year from the former Auckland City Council, which allowed the project to move swiftly ahead.
“Without the wonderful support of our funders this project wouldn’t have happened.”
The new facility will be a multi-use venue with football combining with touch rugby and the activities of other community groups in order to maximise the use of the field.
Cox has a number of projects underway to fill the turf’s weekly schedule, although football will be the core user of the facility and surrounding clubs are already in discussions over regular use of the field.
“Historically, the University-Mt Wellington club has had all sorts of different visions,” Cox says.
“Between the club, the committee and the trust, we have another vision where we can have a centre where a wide range of people from the community from all ethnic backgrounds can enjoy the facility and we can become a real hub for football.”
Auckland Football CEO David Parker says the work of the Mt Wellington Stadium Charitable Trust will serve the game of football in the longterm in several ways.
“The new artificial turf at Bill McKinlay Park will provide a first-class facility for immediate use by our members but, perhaps even more importantly, the work done in seeing this project through can serve as a road map for similar projects at various stages of development in Auckland.
“I applaud the tireless work of the trustees involved and thank them on behalf of the football community in our region.”
Story courtesy of Auckland Football Federation.
For more on Auckland football go to www.aucklandfootball.org.nz