BALLARAT Red Devils are extremely confident everything will be in place for the club’s iconic first National Premier Leagues Victoria home game at Morshead Park.
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The Red Devils will face off against powerhouse South Melbourne for the second time in four weeks on Saturday but will have to negotiate a huge week of construction to get everything ready beforehand.
A temporary grandstand able to fit 300 spectators will be built at the northern end of the Ballarat Regional Soccer Facility stadium midweek while the main grass pitch will be finalised tomorrow, with lines painted and goals installed.
The players will take to the pitch for the first time this year when they train tomorrow and Thursday.
Red Devils president Duncan Smith said he was expecting more than 1500 people at the game.
“If we have a nice autumn day, I’d be hoping for upwards of 1500 people,” Smith said.
“The grandstand will fit 300 and we could comfortably have another 1200 on the mounds around the pitch.
“South Melbourne is one of the biggest clubs in Victoria and Australia and it was the first one on our list for the home game.”
Smith and the Red Devils applied to Football Federation Victoria at the start of the year requesting a delay for their first home game.
After spending six weeks on the road, the club now plays five consecutive matches at Morshead Park.
Ballarat mayor Joshua Morris has also thrown his backing behind the last week of construction, saying the facility’s current state will be “extremely functional”.
“We are certainly very confident that the game will go exceptionally well,” Cr Morris said.
“In an ideal world we would like everything to be completed beforehand but we’re very confident that what we’ve got now is going to meet the needs of the Red Devils.”
Cr Morris also said the overall construction of the facility remained “well on schedule”.
“There is some construction that’s going on but it (the overall completion) wouldn’t be more than a couple of months away,” he said.
Both Cr Morris and Smith believe there will be ample parking space for Saturday’s match.
michael.pollock@fairfaxmedia.com.au