Cup Finals venue change due to wild weather

Football Tasmania has changed the venue for this Monday’s statewide cup finals to mitigate the impact of expected wild weather.

Originally scheduled to be played at Lightwood Park in Kingston, the Women’s Statewide Cup Final, Men’s Lakoseljac Cup Final and WSL Development League Final will now be played on KGV’s artificial surface.

Football Tasmania CEO Matt Bulkeley said the decision was made to ensure the quality of football was not affected by expected inclement weather, as well as to protect the Lightwood Park pitch.

“Given the rain that has fallen in recent days, and what is expected for the remainder of the week, following further discussions with the host club and participating teams, Football Tasmania has made the decision to move the two senior state wide cup final matches to KGV,” Mr Bulkeley said.

“We want to ensure the day is as successful as it can be and that significant damage is not done to Lightwood Park by playing the matches which would negatively impact the club for the rest of the season.”

Mr Bulkeley said although the fixture was originally moved away from KGV, he was confident the venue would be able to host a successful day of football, with game times adjusted to avoid potential issues with the facility’s known lighting faults.

“Although we would normally play showpiece fixtures at KGV, this season we made the decision to temporarily move the finals to Lightwood Park while KGV prepares for upgrade works,” he said.

“This decision was made after considering the ongoing shortcomings of the pitch lighting at KGV, as well as the quality of the change rooms. The intention was and remains to play future state wide cup finals and other high level matches at KGV, once the upgrades have been completed, with work scheduled to commence later this year. This work will see new lighting, the replacement of the synthetic pitch and the construction of new change rooms.

“We’re now working closely with owners of KGV, the Glenorchy Council to ensure the venue is in the best possible condition for Monday, and we very much look forward to welcoming the football community for what promises to be a brilliant day of football.”

New schedule: