PLASTIC? That will do nicely, say Cirencester Town.

The Southern Premier club are currently the “preferred option” to receive funding to build a full-sized artificial 3G pitch at their Corinium Stadium ground after the town was identified as being in urgent need of such a facility in a consultancy document commissioned on behalf of the FA and Cotswold District Council.

Installation of a plastic pitch costs between £300,000 and £500,000 and takes 8-12 weeks to complete. The local club could be playing on an artificial surface as early as the 2016/17 season.

Cirencester’s Southern Premier rivals Merthyr Town have epitomised how an artificial pitch can transform a club’s fortunes both on and off the field.

The club was formed out of the ashes of Merthyr Tydfil FC in 2010, laid a FIFA 2* artificial pitch in the summer of 2013, won promotion to the Southern Premier two years later and have just won the gold award in the UEFA Best Grassroots Club of the Year initiative – with a glowing commendation from UEFA president Michel Platini – owing to their success as a diverse sports hub for the local community.

Their grass pitch received 5.5 hours of usage a week; the new plastic pitch is being used for up to 82.5 hours.

It is estimated that additional revenue from an artificial pitch, based on 40 hours use per week, can be worth around £165,000 a year.

The Welsh club’s community development officer Elliott Evans said: “Merthyr Town is a club for everyone, not just for the elite, not just for the kids at the academy, not just for the fans, but for everyone of all ages, gender, ability, disability – that’s what makes it special.”

Being a community hub is a prerequisite of any funding help from the Premier League & The FA Facilities Fund who would provide at least 50 per cent of the necessary cash – the remainder having to be found by the club itself or its partners, one of which is expected to be Cirencester Town Council.

The fund is managed and delivered by the Football Foundation and this year alone they are helping 80 grassroots projects to the tune of £17.7m.

“We would be looking for sustainability over a 21-year period and beyond,” said Lee Rider, the FA’s Regional Facilities and Investment Manager for the South West.

“Football clubs play on a Saturday but we want daytime use, outreach programmes, school-club links and social inclusion schemes.”

The Cirencester ‘3G’ Pitch Analysis conducted by Ploszajski Lynch Consulting Ltd identified that the “Cotswold District is unique amongst its neighbouring areas in not having at least one (full-sized 3G) pitch.”

They established that “the football clubs in Cirencester have a total of 47 teams . . . and a further 24 clubs are based within 20 minutes drive time of the town.”

Cirencester Town came out top in the consultants' points-based grading system – ahead of Kingshill Sports College, the Royal Agricultural University and Cirencester College – but Rider maintained: “There are still three candidates and a lot of hoops to go through.

"There is a demand in the area and the football club (Cirencester Town) is the preferred option at the moment.

“But nothing has yet been decided. We may know some more in November so watch this space.”

Cirencester Town chairman Steve Abbley said: “It could be a game-changer for us. A new 3G pitch makes what Cirencester Town has sustainable.

“I have met with the Town Council and they seem supportive. We want to be partners with Kingshill, and all bidders in fact, because we see it as a community-based facility.

“The project could have a cap of £450,000 because we already have the infrastructure in place, no planning permission would be necessary – all we need is the pitch.”