The Athletic had been the home of Treharris Seniors in the Welsh league for over 100 years but unfortunately was no longer up to the standards required and the seniors needed to find a new home.
The Athletic whilst the seniors were still using it
This meant the changing rooms and stand had to unfortunately be demolished for the ground to be made safe and The Athletic as we knew it was gone. The upkeep of the pitch would no longer go ahead due to no one using it and this meant that it was left to grow for a number of years.
The mini and junior teams started to struggle with their own facilities not too long after the demolition of The Athletic following the council condemning The Waun field in Quakers Yard due to infestation of moles that were untreatable and also Treharris Park. This left the mini and junior section with no home pitches and at the same time the seniors were 'guesting' on Fochriws pitch whilst works were being carried out on Taff Bargoed Park. It was at this point we decided to start the process of making The Athletic the home of Treharris Athletic Western Mini and Junior FC.
The overgrowth covering the walls and car park following demolition and the unkept pitch
The first thing we needed to do was clear the existing walls of weeds and vegetation and re-point the large wall to make it safe and satisfy the council. We had to have the works inspected by the councils engineer who also recommended us carry out works to the embankment (former stand) as its a bit steep in its current state.
The cleared walls and the pointing work being carried out
With the engineers approval on the wall we could then proceed to to try and get help off the council to carry out the first cuts on the pitch to get us to a place where we can keep up the maintenance ourselves. Thankfully this has now started and the first cut was carried out on the 19th May 2021! It is going to take the best part of a year to get the pitch back to playing standard, but we are so pleased to finally make some progress and are hoping to be playing football on there at the beginning of the 2022/23 season.
The Athletic pitch after its first cut in 4 years!
Thats a short version of the story so far, we will continue to update the blog as and when things are happening from now on. Watch this space!