Press release from Wiseman Lighting.
Weymouth Football Club have a history of embracing new technology and chose to be one of the first clubs in non-league football to install LED floodlighting, as opposed to being one of the last to install metal halide when their floodlighting became unserviceable.
Weymouth FC roots date back to the 1890’s at the Recreation Ground, where the Club was one of the earliest to install floodlighting in 1952, with a match against Southampton on 3rd November being the first-ever floodlit football match played in Dorset. The system was updated in 1965 when the distinctive 4 towers were relocated from Portsmouth FC, with a further move to the Bob Lucas Stadium in 1987 where the 28m towers are an iconic landmark. Approximately 32 years later and Weymouth FC are again ahead of other clubs as one of a very few clubs in Non-League football to now play under LED floodlighting.
With promotion into the Vanarama National League, it was time for the club to invest in their floodlighting system to ensure compliance with The FA Ground Grading requirements as the existing system was unreliable and understandably at the end of serviceability with parts no longer available. The Club wanted to reuse as much of the existing equipment as possible and retain the level of 250 lux. To achieve this a bespoke crossarm was designed and installed to mount 5 Musco 1.2 kW LEDs onto each column, the first time the new Musco TLC1200 fixture has been used in Non-League football, to replace the 48-fixture metal halide 2 kW fixtures.
Weymouth FC engaged the support of GrassRoots Power CIC (GRP) to assist with the Ground Refurbishments that also included a new roof and seating in the main stand. GRP was able to assist Weymouth FC with raising the money required for these projects and their aspirations for LED against a metal halide system.
The new LEDs offer a higher quality of light whilst reducing the power from 104 kW to 24 kW, representing an annual energy saving of approx. £2,000 (Exc. VAT), plus a guarantee of no further costs aside from electricity (10-year parts/labour warranty and performance guarantee means no risk to The Terras). The quality first-class: Min/Max increased to 0.68 & 0.8 Uniformity.
The players, supporters and staff of Weymouth Football Club are now enjoying new Musco LED floodlighting, installed by Wiseman Lighting, on their pitch. The benefits of excellent light is clear to see, greatly reduced spill light beyond the ground (satisfying neighbours), increased efficiency and greater reliability; all told the club is relieved to have the joint support of GRP and Wiseman for now and the future.
Chairman, Weymouth FC, Ian White, said “We are delighted with Wiseman’s professional approach and technical knowledge of sports floodlighting.
“The management’s passion to help clubs improve facilities was appreciated and we would highly recommend anyone needing improvements to call Wiseman.”
Football Secretary & Director at Weymouth FC, Pete Saxby, gives a little more detail, “The Wiseman team provided a full evaluation of our existing system and what was required, they were able to use existing equipment with the project being delivered in a very professional and timely fashion while importantly on budget.”
