Pitch perfect at Mullingar Town Football Club

Calling all soccer fans: this week you have a chance to play on a new shock-absorbent soccer pitch at Mullingar Town AFC - and it won’t cost you a single cent.Mullingar Town AFC unofficially opened the new five and seven-aside pitch last week and want to give soccer fans a chance to test drive the pitch for free. Based at Dalton Park the pitch, which was part built by lottery money and part by club fund raising, looks set to become an excellent source of income for the town’s football club, which has been a presence in Irish soccer for almost a century.The club hopes to build new changing rooms with the extra income from the artificial grass pitch which is set on sand and rubber on top of shock-proof padding and the artificial blades of grass are 65mm long as opposed to the normal 35mm.Martin Moore who has been involved with Mullingar Town AFC for more than 30 years said that he was delighted that the pitch had finally opened and said that he hoped that Westmeath County Council would consider funding similar projects throughout Mullingar so that young footballers would have the proper structures set up in which to play the sport.Martin’s own daughter Emma was at the pitch opening and was still reeling from the excitement of her stint as ball girl at the first ever match to be played at the Aviva stadium.“I only met Packie Bonner,” said Emma when she was asked if she had met anyone famous during her outing at the Man Utd match.The pitch is available normally at a cost of €90 per hour for a seven aside team and €50 and hour for a five-a-side but bookings this week are free of charge.For more information contact Martin Moore on 0862224600 or Jimmy Dowd on 0862092286.