THACKLEY chairman Ben Oliver has expressed his delight after seeing one of his most pressing projects since arriving at the club in 2018 come to light.
For the past few years, the West Yorkshire outfit have been pushing ahead with the opportunity to install new floodlights at Dennyfield.
The plan was to replace the existing eight towers with four brand new towers, with each one being LED generated in a bid to create more coverage and lower the costs at the ground.
Speaking to the T&A about the project, Oliver said: “When I came in as chairman, we assessed the full club and we looked at what things could make an impact in the short term, the medium term and the long term.
“The floodlights fell into the medium/long term bracket because they had been in use since 1984, I believe.
“They were still in good nick, but they’d gone past their recommended lifespan, so we knew they’d need replacing at some point.
“We believe that it’s a once in a generation project and it gives us a chance to make some real change.”
He added: “So, in 2018 when I arrived at the club, we set about plans to evaluate whether we needed a change with the lights.
“After many discussions with a number of different parties, we decided that we would swap our floodlights with something that are more energy efficient and fit for the future – ones that we were able to keep for the next generation.
“So, that’s how the project came around.”
Oliver went on to explain that it’s taken a great deal of effort from everyone involved to help get this project rolling.
He said: “Everybody on the committee has been pulling in the right direction including some of our sponsors, architects (JB Langley) and our Co-secretary, Richard Holmes who has been the driving force behind this project in the last few years.
“He’s been the one who has been going out and getting all the quotes and dealing with the contractors.
“We’ve also been luckily enough to have received some funding from the new Premier League lighting fund, which has been extremely helpful.
“We’re cooking on gas now and they (floodlights) should be installed before the start of pre-season.”
Thackley and Tom Greaves recently announced that they would be parting ways with one another, with the experienced forward relinquishing his management duties at the end of last season.
In 2023, Greaves made the decision to act as joint-manager alongside Danny Forrest after recently being a key player for Thackley.
However, at the end of the 23/24 season, the 39-year-old made the choice to step down as club manager in a bid to focus on playing once again.
Giving his thoughts on Greaves' departure, Oliver said: "Tom came to Thackley two years ago preliminary as a player, but went on to assist Pat (McGuire) and, of course, team up with Danny.
"As a player, Tom's record speaks for itself scoring almost 400 non-league goals, which is a remarkable achievement in itself.
"But more importantly, as a person Tom was a great man and we loved having him here for the past two years.
"Unfortunately for us, he wanted to continue playing and step down as manager. We're grateful for him coming to us early to break the news.
"We have nothing but respect for Tom, and although it's sad to see him leave, we wish him all the best in the future. He's welcome back at Thackley anytime."
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