The Executive Mayor of Cape Town, Helen Zille, has turned the first sod of the new pitch for the revamped Athlone Stadium, which will signal the start of a new era for soccer in Cape Town when complete.

The stadium is undergoing a R400 million facelift ahead of the 2010 FIFA World Cup™, during which it will be used as one of two venue specific training sites in Cape Town.  

The facelift includes the replacement of the grass pitch and the upgrading of the spectator stands, and is being carried out to meet FIFA standards on World Cup training venues.

The previous grass pitch, which had been used for years by Cape Town soccer clubs Santos and Ajax Cape Town, did not meet FIFA’s requirement that the grass must be the same as the playing surface for the World Cup matches that will take place at Green Point Stadium.

The new pitch will have a kikuyu base (warm season turf) overseeded with rye (cool season turf), meaning that the stadium can be used throughout the year.

The tender for the new surface has been awarded and work is set to begin.

Laboratory tests will be done on the soil, water and plant material, and a scientific fertiliser programme will be introduced.

Other improvements to the pitch include laser levelling, resetting the irrigation system, and monitoring the drainage.

The new pitch will be ready for play in August this year. Rye overseeding will be undertaken in March 2010, four months before the World Cup kicks off.

Ajax Cape Town and Santos will use Newlands Rugby Stadium as their home ground for the remainder of the 2009 season.

Meanwhile, construction work at the new Green Point Stadium is on track, with work continuing on the installation of the new roof. The stadium will be completed on December 14 this year.