Caersws Football Club, founded in the late 19th century, adopted its present name in 1974 when it relinquished its amateur status.
The club’s first successes came in the Sixties, winning the Mid-Wales League and the Welsh Amateur Cup.
In 1992 they became founder members of the League of Wales and subsequently won the League Cup twice. The team plays at the Recreation Ground, Caersws, which accommodates up to 4000 spectators.
Situated close to the River Severn, the ground floods regularly when the river bursts its banks in winter months. But once the flood water subsided, the pitch would not be playable for up to 2 weeks due standing water on the pitch not draining away. This resulted in the club having to move matches to another club’s ground, which had a 3G pitch, to meet the demands of the league schedule.
In the 2023/24 season, they managed only one game across three winter months (Nov-Jan). Playing elsewhere also meant supporters would not travel to games, so the issues mounted. Investigations into the causes revealed the pitch to be sitting on 0.7 metres depth of clay and constant rolling over the years had compacted the surface even further. Normal aeration would have no impact on the problem.
Caersws Club chair, Neil Lewis, had heard of the work by Terrain Aeration at other pitches and called them in to see if they could resolve the issue. Terrain has a unique system used for over 30 years with their Terralift machines.
The Terralift features a JCB road hammer and probe, which reaches a depth of one metre where it releases a blast of compressed air. This fractures the soil, creating fissures to allow drainage, and as the probe is withdrawn, dried seaweed is injected. This has the effect of expanding and contracting with moisture and, in simple terms, keeps the holes open.
The process is repeated on a grid system, usually at two-metre intervals, to interlink the fracturing. The probe holes are backfilled with an aggregate and the surface is almost immediately playable.
“This season we had only one first team and a second team game postponed,” says Neil Lewis. “We had the Ground Management Association come and take a core sample. They found even though the topsoil was wet, the soil at depth was dry.
“We have also had the pitch scarified to remove thatch, so next season will see it drain even better. The difference since Terrain Aeration did their work is incredible and we will promote them to other club and associations looking for a drainage solution.
“It saved money, there was no digging and being non-invasive, we were able to play a pre-season friendly the same night as the work was done. Why would you not do it?”
