How a community came together to restore Bulli's IPL home, Balls Paddock

Devastating floods in April saw the Woonona-based field more reminiscent of a swimming pool, rather than a football pitch.

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But not once did anyone at Bulli complain rather, it helped bond the club together and now just three months later, football is set to return to the iconic IPL venue.

It took hours upon hours of volunteer work from committee members, players, coaches, managers, parents, and locals alike to get the field back to its former glory.

Whilst members of the community worked behind the scenes, on the field, Bulli's male and female teams were forced to play "home games" at other venues, a logistical nightmare at times for both the club and governing body Football South Coast.

The Julio Miranda-coached mens IPL side have been playing games at the region's sole synthetic field Ian McLennan Park at Kembla Grange. But now, a return to Balls Paddock has been pencilled in and its a big one... against Wollongong United on July 6, 2024.

Bulli FC president Dane Hamilton said it had been quite a journey since April to get where they are now.

"The first couple of weeks were really tough," Hamilton said.

"During the week and weekends we were running working bees, which included a lot of wheel-barrowing of dirt. I'm not sure of the exact tonnage, but there was something like 80 tons of silt removed from the ground.

"When that was done within a couple of weeks it was then a waiting game. We had an expert that we used to have a bit of a look at the ground and laying out a path forward, which for us wasn't re-turfing.

"We seeded the ground and then we were basically just waiting for it to grow and make sure we had reasonable coverage that was befitting of Premier League football."

The Bulli president admitted that whilst the field may not be as slick as it once was, he was incredibly shocked with just how fast of a turnaround it was to return to hosting games at the venue.

"One of the older members of the committee said that we'd be out of action for six or eight weeks, and we kind of laughed at that," Hamilton said.

"We thought it would be much longer than that given the circumstances. But we were just really lucky that we were able to tap into a lot of the members of the club and the community, people that were willing to help out. Particularly Cadifern Civil were excellent in removing a lot of dirt and soil. [Wollongong] Council were excellent as well."

"It's probably not going to be as perfect as it usually is, but we're just really happy and relieved to be home."

Hamilton added that the club was excited about the first game back at the venue against United early next month.

"It will be a real morale boost for all our members, players, and community members. I think they'll appreciate getting back there," he added.

"I think also this year particularly in our first grade squad, we've got a very young team and a lot of players that are experiencing the club for the first time. Some of them joined a little bit into the season and have never played a game at Balls Paddock.

"So I'm really looking forward to giving them the full football club experience playing our at Balls Paddock, because it's pretty iconic to play there on a Saturday afternoon.

"We'll try and get some word out and try and attract as many members there on the day (July 6) to give the team a fair bit of support because no doubt that'll help the players because the results have been a bit mixed this year. It's definitely going to be an advantage for us getting back home."