Hughes and Salvidge Make Light Work of Fratton Park Project

As the UK prepares to put lights up ahead of the festive season, Hughes and Salvidge have completed the dismantling and removal of the final original floodlight at Portsmouth Football Club’s Fratton Park ground.

After dismantling the first three floodlights earlier this year, we started work on the remaining last floodlight after telecoms equipment had been removed from the high-level structure and the weather permitted the works to safely take place.

Our project team – led by Contracts Manager Dan Byng – and supported by our sister companies H&S Metals and Aasvogel Waste Management, and a specialist craneage contractor, got to work on the final floodlight.

Situated at the corner of the ground between the South Stand and the Milton End, this floodlight was the most complicated to remove due to limited access at that part of the stadium and the close proximity of neighbouring houses.

We conducted a letter drop in the local area ahead of works to ensure residents were aware of the project taking place and were informed on restrictions of traffic movements and parking to ensure the working area and crane location were safely segregated for the duration of the project.

An experienced and qualified Hughes and Salvidge operative team worked from a mobile platform and in conjunction with the crane team to cut the floodlight into manageable sections. Once seperated from the main structure, each section was then lowered to the ground by crane to a designated drop zone for further processing.

The works were completed within one day and all elements of the floodlight, including the lights on the head section, will be recycled.

The original four floodlights had a place in English football history as the first to host a floodlit football match in the Football League – when Portsmouth took on Newcastle United on 22nd February, 1956.

However, the floodlights were no longer required as the club now has alternative methods of lighting around the stadium.

The first floodlight we dismantled, between the Fratton End and North Stand, was re-erected in the car-park behind the North Stand to maintain a piece of football history at the club, as this area of the City gets used to a new view across the skyline.