Floating football pitch arrives in Cardiff Bay

WORK has begun to build a floating football pitch in Cardiff Bay as part of the Champions League festival.

The pitch will open for four days during the Champions Festival which is being held in the Bay between June 1 and June 4.

While there is always a football pitch built as part of the festival, this is the first floating one.

On Friday, June 2, it will host the Ultimate Champions Match featuring footballing legends.

Last year in Milan, stars including Real Madrid legend Roberto Carlos, Portugal’s Luís Figo and Germany’s Lothar Matthäus took part in the game.

Over the festival, the pitch will also host community activities, including walking football, refugee teams from Cardiff, Swansea and Newport, a deaf football friendly international, learning disability and youth age group matches.

Work to build the pitch has began yesterday at 7.30am and is expected to last three days.

Lorries are transporting the huge pieces of the base and then a crane is lifting them into place.

They are then being connected in the water.

In total, it is understood 200 different blocks will make up the main structure, which will be attached to the wall in a similar style to a pontoon.

The 3G pitch will be laid on top, with net around the side.

Marc Diaper works for Coffi Co coffee shop in Cardiff Bay.

Staff have been watching the pitch be constructed all morning.

“There’s going to so many people down here for the festival as well as staff and the huge police presence,” he said. “We’re really excited that we can see it coming together now. It feels like it’s real now. Until now it’s all been speculation but it’s really nice to watch it going up”. The free festival is open to anyone. Elsewhere in the city, scaffolding has gone up on the NCP car park on Westgate Street.

A huge interactive advertising banner will be put in place over the scaffolding ahead of the final on June 3.

The banner will cover the whole of the front of the car park and will be 40m wide and 15m high. It will also contain a LED screen in the middle.

Content which is yet to be announced, will be shown throughout the final day.

The screen will be installed on May 18 with it going live on May 22.