Members of the Lily White rugby team share run-down training facilities with three other rugby clubs, and several soccer teams.
Members of the Lily White rugby team share run-down training facilities with three other rugby clubs, and several soccer teams.
But on the eve of their 120th anniversary, there is new hope that these grounds will at least be turned into headquarters fit for Grahamstown's second-oldest rugby side – and other sports clubs in the area.
Foley's Ground, between K street and Hlalani location, is in the municipal area demarcated as Ward 7. Until last year, it was a soccer and rugby training field. It was closed down "somewhere around August/September" according to Lily Whites caretaker coach Sonwabo Libi.
It was mid-season and the clubs that used it had to seek a new home. They still have no base. "The construction company allocated to renovate and upgrade the grounds ran away. It is because he didn't want to pay his staff there – yet he wanted them to continue doing work," said Ward 7 councillor, Malibongwe Khubalo.
"The [excavation]and building people then refused and stepped down and the contractor never pitched at work. "We [wanted to know what was happening]because it is our [ward's] project," Khubalo said.
Now new contractors have been brought in to finish the job. Khubalo said the upgrade entailed turning the facility into a multi-purpose sport centre, capable of hosting basketball, tennis and soccer. Also in the plans are change rooms and a caretaker cottage.
Local sports teams hope the project will now finally get off the starting blocks. "Foley's ground was the closest, since the majority of my team players are in Tantyi Location, Vukani location, and Fingo village," said former Lily White coach, Nyaniso Lamani. "It had a lot of advantages.
With the help of the floodlights from the nearby areas we could also train there late at night, since some of our players are working.
"Now Blues (nickname for Lily White) is sharing a training field with Universals, Swallows, Old Collisions and some soccer teams," Lamani said. "We are really not happy with being chased out of Foley's Ground. Bear in mind that Blues will be 120 years old next year, but we don't even have a guaranteed 100 metres of home ground."
"We were not consulted before the park was fenced. They just came and did their construction without any communication with us. Libi said, "Foley's Ground is historically a rugby field and we used to use it for our home ground games in the 1970s. "Now we used it as a training ground, so there is a lot history between the club and field. We felt very disrespected."
Neither former nor current contractors were available for comment at the time of going to print.
