THE weather was not enough to prevent Swindon Supermarine going ahead with what has been described as the biggest day in the club’s history.

While the team may have lost on Saturday, the following day saw them put up a state-of-the-art air dome on top of a 3G playing surface.

Despite the high winds slowing the process, the army of volunteers battled away and managed to get the structure up.

It means not only will the players have a surface which they can train on 12 months of the year, the club can hire it out for public use, giving them an extra revenue stream.

Club chairman Jez Webb said: “This is the beginning of a new era for us. It will mean a lot more in terms of income.

“There is a huge demand in Swindon for indoor pitches so we will be able to cater for that. The team will use it and there is also a big youth set-up here so there is demand from within the club.

“We have designed it so we can have three pitches running across the 47 metre width or we have dividing nets which can be easily drawn back to give one big pitch running lengthways.

“I feel it will provide one of the best indoor playing facilities in Southern England.”

In total around £350,000 has been invested in the dome and preparing the ground. Work started in August, with everyone confident it will be a top quality facility when it is finished.

“I took the decision early on to invest more finances by way of having a rubber shock pad installed under the playing surface,” said Jez “This provides the players with a wonderful comfortable playing experience and more importantly it is proven that a shock pad leads to less stress on ligaments and joints.”

While certainly not having the finances of the top Premier League teams, Swindon Supermarine is on a sound financial footing.

However, the chairman believes the money from the dome will help them to move up the leagues.

Jez said: “We have always been on a solid financial footing but I realised very quickly that more would be needed if we want to move up through the leagues.

“This is not to make money and but to generate money which can then be put back into the team.

“The team will be using it in the next few weeks but there is a bit more work to be done around to make it safe so it will be open to the public I’d imagine at some point in the New Year.”