The “unplayable” state of Mill Park Soccer Club’s home ground is forcing the club to turn prospective members away.
Burgeoning membership and the deteriorating state of Findon Reserve at Epping have forced the soccer club to petition Whittlesea council to earmark upgrades to the reserve in the forthcoming budget.
A petition signed by 250 people was tabled by Whittlesea councillor Mary Lalios last month.
She said two of the reserve’s three pitches were “in urgent need of repair” to accommodate the club’s 17 teams and almost 300 players.
In line with the club’s wishes, she requested council officers consider allocating some money from the 2015-16 budget.
Mill Park Soccer Club president Jack Kyriacou said there were craters in the lower two fields.
“This is the third year now that’s we’ve pitched to get the ground upgraded,” he said.
“We’ve had to knock back 90 junior players because we can’t cater for their training.”
The club trains and plays on Findon Reserve’s only usable ground and pays the council to use Mill Park Secondary College’s synthetic sports fields.
Cr Lalios said the council decided not to maintain two of Findon Reserve’s grounds some time ago when the soccer club had fewer members and required just the one oval.
Council’s leisure and community inclusion manager, Paul Reading, was unable to comment on the 2015-16 budget but did say the reserve was one of many projects being considered.
“As the reserve is located on a former landfill site, officers have recommended that, in the first instance, an analysis of the site be carried out to determine longer-term maintenance requirements,” Mr Reading said.
