The deal between the Sheppey Rugby Club to hire a pitch exclusively to the SSL was signed at lunchtime today, read the joint statement below

For the first time in the 54 year history of the Sheppey Sunday Football League and the history of the Sheppey Rugby Club both sports have got together with a special arrangement for the Football League to have a pitch installed on the Rugby Clubs, Stupple Field in Minster for the two sports to share the ground.

League Secretary of the Havill Sheppey Sunday League Mr Mark Rogers said:

“The League over the last few years have been struggling with pitches on the Island with a shortage of Adult size pitches but with the League maintaining Player participation numbers it was getting a worry of where to play, so we were delighted to be invited to talks with the Rugby Club over a possible solution”

A lot of the Clubs on the Island with a lot of YouthTeams have taken pitches from the Council on special leases ie Seager Road, King Georges Playing Field, New Road in Sheerness and it is only Leysdown FC who have secured a tenure to keep the Leysdown pitch for adult football from the Council. This only leaves the pitch at Queenborough to hire from the Council but we were finding that Youth teams were booking that as well and the private sector pitches had also decided to concentrate on the Youth football and do away with the adult game on their sites.

Mr Rogers added:

“We have been lucky enough to have secured a good deal at the Oasis Academy to use their 3G on a Sunday and we also use other school sites on the Island, but with Covid, the Oasis site has been put on lockdown to outside hirers so we were getting desperate for pitches.

We are extremely pleased to announce that we have secured an arrangement with the Sheppey Rugby Club to have a pitch installed in the bottom corner of the ground, with sole use by us as a League.

This will help with the shortages of pitches on the island and it's great to be teaming up with our other sports on the island. The goals should be with us and ready to go within 2 weeks, this has been generously supported by our League Sponsors, Havills.

This to go along with the great relationship we already have with Sheppey United Football Club. It's fantastic that the League has teamed up with the two biggest Clubs in their respective games in the Swale area.”


The Sheppey Rugby Club, Chair, Karen Gray said:

“Sheppey Rugby Football Club is delighted to welcome Sheppey Sunday League Football to Stupple Field. This new and exciting partnership has been brokered by Matt Cheesbrough and Daren Chandler of SRFC and Mark Rogers and Colin Rogers of the Havill Sheppey Sunday League. Delivery of football posts is imminent and the pitch is ready for league matches.
As we strive to make our club a community sporting hub, we hope this is the first of many partnerships which provides opportunities for all.
We are looking forward to welcoming the teams and their supporters to the club on a Sunday and wish them all the best for the upcoming season”
The future is looking good for sport on the Island and with many more partnerships to come in the future, it shows that the Islands Communities can come together to help each other out.