Wapping Hockey Club happy with their money Pic: Wapping Hockey Club

Wapping Hockey Club has secured a £300,000 investment from Tower Hamlets Council to redevelop their home ground at the John Orwell Sports Centre.

Club Chairman Stuart Burnside hopes that the funding will help the club progress in the National League tables by attracting high quality players and coaches.

He said the investment would, “provide an increase in the calibre of players and coaches. High quality players don’t play on low quality pitches.”

Speaking in an interview with Eastlondonradio, Burnside said: “The main reason we haven’t been able to progress beyond where we are is the lack of facilities. You have to relay hockey astro turf roughly every 10 years, so with a 25 year old club we’ve been trying for 15 years unsuccessfully.”

He added: “But what the money means is we can put a first class turf in our home ground at the John Orwell in Wapping which will mean we are able to attract the calibre of players that we need to progress.”

Burnside hopes that these players can help promote Wapping and attract international level players before the World Cup in 2018. He said: “We want to have risen up the ranks to have our own international players. It’s extremely doable within 5 years with better facilities.”

The majority of the money made available to the club by Tower Hamlets council came from S106 funding, a contribution paid by developers to local councils to redistribute to benefit the community.