Foxes Trio Unveil Rejuvenated Sileby Bowls Club Green
- James Maddison, Steve Walsh and Alan 'The Birch' Birchenall celebrate the restoration of Sileby Bowls Club's green
- The green had fallen into disrepair, prompting a member of the club to ask Leicester City for help
- Over the past six months, the Club's Ground Team have worked tirelessly to bring the green back into shape
- The Club will continue to provide assistance and advice over the coming years
- In June 2022, Leicester City are set to move into a new state-of-the-art training facility just two miles away
After the harsh winter of 2017 left the green in a poor state, a member of the bowls club wrote to Leicester City's award-winning Grounds Team to ask for any assistance they could provide.
The Sileby Bowls Club, which was formed in 1939, has hosted county and national fixtures in the past, but it came under considerable threat in 2018 - unless improvement works were carried out swiftly.
As Leicester City prepares to move into a new state-of-the-art training facility just two miles away in June 2020, the Grounds Staff visited the green late last year to make an assessment of the surface.
The Club's new training centre will include facilities for the first team, Development Squad and Academy set-ups, as well as provisions to support its community programme throughout the region.
In order to ensure the Sileby Bowls Club green would be ready for the new season, which starts this month, a renovation plan was put into place and work began in earnest last October.
Since then, on top of their daily duties at King Power Stadium and the Club's current Belvoir Drive training centre, the Grounds Team, led by John Ledwidge, have worked tirelessly to trandform the green.
Earlier this month, to celebrate the green's stunning restoration, Maddison, Walsh and The Birch were on hand to reopen the facility, which Sileby Bowls Club now hopes will help attract new members.
As well as an opportunity to test their bowls skills against one another, all three of the familiar faces - and Filbert Fox - also delighted in the opportunity to acquaint themselves with their future neighbours.
"This will hopefully benefit everyone in the community," The Birch explained, speaking to a healthy presence of media. "If we can help the local community in any way, then that's fantastic.
"It's what we're about as a football club and we're going to be integrating into this community very soon. I live on this side of the county and you can see that the place is Leicester City mad."
Now restoration work is complete, City’s Grounds Team will continue to provide advice and support on the maintenance of the green to ensure its longevity for generations to come in the local area.
Ledwidge, the Club's Grounds Manager, added: "We received a letter from a member of the club asking for some help - and that's exactly what we've done.
"We came down in October to assess it. The green was in a poor state, not for a want of trying, because the guys here did their best, but it needed some work to be done.
"We stepped in with some support and guidance and it's been great to see that they've taken on-board what we said to them and we can see the product of their hard work here today.
"We're going to be a part of this community and the Club do a great job throughout Leicestershire at a grassroots level. Hopefully we can help Sileby Bowls Club be around for many years to come.
"We're really proud to have been a part of it."