Sports Ground

The sports ground project was started at the Bolton AGM in 2007. During the meeting Naginbhai Jerambhai Patel (Bolton) said that for last 25 years or so Nani Pethan had tried to build a sports ground unsuccessfully. At that point most of the other villages had a sports ground and he wanted us to try building one again.

It was decided that Jayantilal Jasmatbhai Patel (Dudley) take the lead on the project as he made annual trips to India and spent the most amount of time in the village. Money was raised for the sports project through donations and raffles.

In 2008 a meeting was held in Nani Pethan and the local community in the village were informed of the project. Following this a number of meetings were held and it was decided that the new ground would be built in the space of the old ground, which was being used for cattle grazing and where the crematorium was also located.

The first job was to decide where the new crematorium would be built. An area of unused over grown land that sat behind the old ground was chosen. The land was cleared using two JCB’s and took approximately two weeks, after which a Pooja was performed by the locals at the site.

As there was no water or electricity supply for the site a water bore was installed to service both the new crematorium and sports ground. An electricity supply was also established which took over 6 six months to complete.

A large quantity of soil was needed for both the sports ground and crematorium. Once the talav dried out in the hot season the remaining water was drained which enabled soil to be dug out from it. This was then transported to the ground and crematorium. Once the soil was in place, special equipment was hired to level the ground and crematorium area.

Underground water facilities and a sprinkler system were installed and three pitches were created; a concrete one for the use of tennis balls and two turf pitches for cricket balls.

The turf was laid down in 2005, making Nani Pethan sports ground was one of the first grounds in the area to have a sports ground with turf.

The ground was officially opened in December 2015 after which many members of the Nani Pethan congregation in the UK donated benches for the ground.

In 2017 further work was done to erect flood lights so the ground could be used for night matches. It was decided that the ground be available to hire out and it has been used by teams who have come as from as far as Surat.

In 2023 mechanical heavy roller was also bought to help maintain the ground.