Goose Gosling Field will be closed to football until a tear in the synthetic surface that was caused by Tropical Storm Fay can be repaired.

“There are a few tears on the turf where a couple of bleachers were picked up by the wind and thrown over the fence and skidded across the turf,” said John Doran, the president of BAA, the field’s landlord.

“It’s around the halfway line and we have it cordoned off.

“We need to repair it before we can have anybody on it or it will get ripped more. We need to get somebody in to do it, but obviously with the storm [the approaching Hurricane Gonzalo] and the clean-up from the last storm, it is difficult to get people out to work on it.

“We have made arrangements to move the bleachers to one side and as far back from the field as possible. The one that came across the field is one of the heaviest that we have, so we’re really surprised with the force of Fay.”

This month marked five years since the club made a substantial investment and had the surface laid. “October 4 was the opening day,” Doran said.

The ground is the most used on the Island for football matches, hosting more than a half dozen games on a typical weekend, with the Corona League exclusively situated there, while Premier Division and First Division matches are also scheduled intermittently.

“Obviously there is a training programme with the kids, then there are two games on a Friday night in the Corona League,” Doran said. “We go from seven o’clock in the morning on a Saturday, all the way through to the 9pm game. Then on a Sunday there will be another game; and then we have a pub team that plays on Sunday mornings as well.”

However, even the all-weather surface is vulnerable to the elements, with last Saturday’s Premier Division match between Flanagan’s Onions and Somerset Trojans abandoned at half-time after a heavy downpour flooded the field.

The five Corona League matches scheduled for this weekend have already been called off.

“It’s like any surface,” Doran added. “If you get a deluge of rain, there is going to be standing water and it just can’t drain fast enough. The drainage is very good on the field, but once there is standing water, we call it off.

“We have to take care of it; it was a big investment. We had the guys come down [from overseas] during the summer and did an inspection after the five years and they said it is in great shape. We’re very happy with that report.”

Doran says the investment has been a good one, not just for the club but also for the community, with the field in constant use.

“It’s a shame we can’t get more clubs going down that path,” the BAA president said. “We want to get running as soon as we can, but we don’t want anybody on it until it is repaired properly.”

Officials and members at BAA are hoping that there will not be further damage to the ground by Gonzalo, which is predicted to bring strong winds on Friday.