The playing side of operations at Newlandsfield may have been suspended this winter, but the club has certainly not been placed into cold storage.

In addition to the normal ongoing maintenance work that takes place at the ground, the opportunity has been used to give the place a thorough refurbishment and to upgrade facilities and decor.

This work is still ongoing and will continue at least until the football restarts, but here are some details of the improvements that have been made so far inside the Pollok pavilion.

Heating

40 years on from the first gas central heating installation at Newlandsfield, and after a couple of years when we were constantly coaxing and cajoling the hot water boiler to keep going, we finally got a new heating and hot water system installed. The two old boilers were replaced with a single, smaller very efficient boiler.

Two new 220L hot water tanks (to make sure that the players’ showers always have enough hot water) were fitted along with new mixer taps and shower heads in all the home, away and ref’s dressing room.

The project went out to competitive tender and was won by:

Away Dressing Room

When Lok’s Bar and Kitchen were designing their new enterprise, they commissioned a photographer to take some artful photos of our beloved Newlandsfield. These were duly installed on the walls of the Trophy Bar.

When they were refurbing, they decided on a change of style and down came the photos. These were donated to the club by Lok’s Bar and Kitchen.

The away dressing room has just been painted and the Lok’s photos now take pride of place there.

Painting the Physio’s Room

The last time we painted in here we used a pale green shade (the BBC used this shade in their studios as it supposedly had a calming and soothing effect on people).

Time moves on. Now repainted white to blend in with the dressing rooms & looks much cleaner.

Miles of Tiles

Tim the Tiler is a Liverpudlian who lives in the high flats overlooking the ground.

While he admits he is not a diehard Pollok Fan, Tim is a real football lover who wants to help out his local club when he can.

Initially he laid tiles on the kitchen floor and over the summer and has now laid quarry tiles in the manager’s office, gents’ and ladies’ toilets.

What a difference he made, the floors are so much better and easier to keep clean.

If you need a great tiler then give us a shout and we will pass Tim’s details to you.