Project Overview
Established in 1892, Linby Colliery Welfare Football Club is one of Nottinghamshire’s oldest grassroots football clubs. With a proud heritage and strong community ties, the club recently embarked on a major upgrade to its pitch facilities with the installation of new LED floodlights and masts, delivered in partnership with Abacus Lighting.
Originally proposed as a full turnkey lighting solution, the project was revised due to client funding constraints. While Abacus Lighting retained responsibility for the lighting system design, supply, and installation, the civils element was managed directly by the client and executed by contractor QTS, with Abacus offering technical guidance throughout.
Abacus’s Scheduling Collaboration:
While a typical Abacus-led turnkey installation of this size would typically be completed over 12 working days within a 3-week window (to allow for concrete curing), this project was extended to 6 weeks. This was due to QTS working free of charge (FOC) for the club and scheduling works around their other commitments—a generous contribution that helped make the project financially viable for the club.
Abacus required just 6 days on site to:
Erect the six HL250 masts, headframes, install all LED floodlights, complete commissioning and handover.
Abacus Lighting’s Key Installation Overview:
Each mast fitted with 2 x 1500W Challenger 1 LEDs for the main pitch. The two far-end masts included an additional 1000W Challenger 1 fitting each to illuminate the warm-up/training areas.
A new control cabinet was also supplied and installed by Abacus, with two independent switches for the pitch lights and the training area, with all final electrical connections, testing, and commissioning completed by the Abacus lighting team.
Benefits for the Club:
The new floodlighting system represents a transformational upgrade for Linby Colliery Welfare FC, both on and off the pitch:
Promotion-Ready: With compliant lighting in place, the club can now meet the ground grading requirements for promotion into the National League System (Step 6), unlocking new opportunities for progression.
Fixture Flexibility: Evening kickoffs and midweek games can now be accommodated with ease, helping the club manage its calendar more efficiently.
Training Access: The newly lit training area can now be used throughout the winter months, eliminating the need for expensive offsite hire—saving the club thousands of pounds annually.
Increased Revenue: With players and staff training onsite more regularly, the clubhouse will see increased use, helping to generate additional income for the club.
Long-Term Investment: Energy efficient LED technology and robust infrastructure ensure low ongoing maintenance costs and a futureproofed solution for years to come.
