Big things are on the cards for Cecil Payne Stadium if former Premier League soccer coach Cavin Johnson has anything to say about it.

Johnson is set to be the new face of Cecil Payne Stadium after signing a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the City of Johannesburg, which will see him take over the running of the facility from the end of June.

“What we’re planning here will, with a bit of luck and a lot of hard work, see the total transformation of this once prestigious sports facility to once again be a jewel in the crown of the West Rand,” he says.

The stadium, which once hosted some of the largest local sports tournaments including big annual school athletics, soccer, cricket, and rugby matches, today is a but a shadow of its former self.

The grounds are largely dilapidated save for the cricket pitch, which is being maintained by the resident cricket club.

The stadium stands have been declared unfit for use due to structural damage, and the perimeter fence has been breached and damaged.

Vagrants have taken to sleeping on and under the old pavilions at night, and a small informal settlement is starting to develop at the wetland that borders the facility.

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Johnson says he dos not suffer any illusions with regard to the enormity of the task he has set himself.

“No-one said it would be easy, but we are determined to turn the Cecil Payne Stadium into a safe space where residents can gather to relax, socialise, enjoy either playing or supporting their favourite sporting codes, and unite as a community.”

He explains his vision to create a community sporting hub that caters for as many sporting codes as possible under the guise of Florida Social Club.

“There is enough land here to cater for a wide variety of codes,” he says.

According to Johnson, the single biggest challenge at this stage of the project, is getting the support of the local community.

“There is no point in spending millions of Rands to turn this stadium into the world-class facility that it can be if we don’t have the full buy-in from the local community,” he says.

“The plan is to start at 90 and end at six. We have a retirement centre on our doorstep and there are no facilities that cater for the physical and emotional wellbeing of our elderly residents. The stadium will have programmes that cater for them and also provide them with a place to come and have coffee or tea and socialise.”

Johnson held an introductory community meeting in February this year, and has announced a follow-up meeting for July 4.

“We are officially taking over the stadium from July 1, and it is now time to ramp up our community engagements, bring more people on board and share more concrete plans for the development of the facility.”

The meeting will take place at Unified Public School at 13:00 on Saturday, July 4.

For more information WhatsApp Cavin on 083 468 9765.