The End of Season Community Cup finals have been completed and work has now begun to prepare the Sixfields pitch for next season.

With the games completed, the pitch renovation began on Sunday 24th May in the early evening and the contractors continued to work through the following day to get the initial stages completed.

The pitch renovation and maintenance contract has recently been awarded to a new partner, Greenbay, and their director Paul Knowles will have a daily hands on role in overseeing the renovation and maintenance of the playing surface.

Paul will be assisted by Jason Hawthorn who will be on site every day.

In addition, Dave Saltman of Pitchcare.com has agreed to take a consultancy role and has been responsible for the renovation programme and will provide support and materials.

"The local cup finals are a time when the stadium is visited by many new people and a good experience should only encourage them to return for a future NTFC first team game, and we were delighted with the success of this year's finals," said Stadium Manager Avril Spraggon.

"We have taken the decision to work with a new pitch care partner for the next 3 years and I would like to thank Sportsturf Maintenance for all their work and support over the years. We of course thank Paul Currier (jnr) and wish him every success in his future career as he has decided to remain with Sportsturf."

Jason Hawthorn added, "Since the work began we have taken all of the dead grass off the pitch, laid 50 tonnes of sand and verti-drained the surface. We have then re-seeded, fed and watered it and we are all geared up to getting the pitch ready in the best possible condition for the first game of next season - the pre-season friendly with Coventry City on July 21st."