Game on at last for Astral Park football pitches

That’s because the long-awaited start of play at the town’s ‘home of football’ has been given the green light after a near two-year wait.

Though adult football pitches close to the £1.5m Astral Park sports and community centre were expected to be ready for the start of the football season in September 2014, fixtures were cancelled as players began to report injuries after large cracks in the surface of the field appeared.

Works to fix the problem took place and the start of play was postponed for a month, but fixtures were then stalled indefinitely due to further problems with the pitches.

However Central Beds Council has said that its remedial work on the land is now complete, meaning that friendlies will be arranged at Astral Park in early August.

All being well, it will host a large number of regular season fixtures thereafter.

Leighton-Linslade Town Council clerk Mark Saccoccio told the LBO: “It is a positive step but one of those ‘suck it and see’ situations.

“We won’t know really until we start getting studs on it, then we can help address any issues that may arise.”

He added: “At this moment we welcome the future transfer of the land to the town council but we are not prepared to have that undertaken until we are satisfied that the issues have been addressed.”