A new ground could be hosting night soccer matches in the New Year. .. and the number of floodlit pitches could swell to six by next season, The Royal Gazette has learned.

Western Stars Sports Club, home of Dandy Town, are "95 percent ready'' to hold night matches, their president Cecil Lewis revealed yesterday.

"Hopefully by next month we will be in a position to host night games,'' said Lewis.

The development marks the 25th anniversary of Dandy Town, a team that rose from the depths of the old Third Division -- where they spent one season -- to become one of the top teams on the Island. Lewis was a founding member of the side in the early 1970s and is now president as night soccer gets set to make its debut at the St. John's Road ground.

"There is a backlog of matches and we want to help out in that area as much as possible,'' said Lewis, who noted that the recent bad weather had delayed final work on the lights. "The weather hasn't been favourable to us. The poles have been up for months. Funding has been our biggest problem but a few firms have come to our assistance. We had to turn the pitch around to accommodate this (lights). We anticipate we will need more seating and that will be our next project. Hopefully by next season we will be able to double our seating capacity.'' Another field operator, St. David's Cricket Club, are also looking into the feasibility of erecting lights for night games.

And as one of the most picturesque of local cricket grounds, night cricket might also hold some appeal, said vice president and chairman of the football committee, Stuart Crockwell.

"We're doing a survey now to see what are the best places to put the lights and how many poles are needed,'' added Crockwell.

"We're trying to utilise the elevated parts of the ground. Having the poles higher up would improve the lighting.

As Somerset Cricket Club found out in 1987 when they became the fourth local ground -- behind BAA, Devonshire Rec. and PHC -- to erect lights, it is not an inexpensive undertaking.

"The rough estimate is about $55,000 for just the lights,'' Crockwell disclosed. "We're looking at $100,000 to $120,000 but it will be beneficial to the sporting fraternity in the long run.

"We can look at hosting night cricket and other events. It is not too far-fetched for St. David's Cricket Club.'' BFA general secretary David Sabir praised the clubs for taking the initiative.

Two more venues, he acknowledged, would help take the load off existing grounds with lights, especially when there was a backlog of matches as exists now.

One ground, PHC, has not hosted night games since last March because of light problems. The club have been considering replacing the whole light system rather than repairing the current lights which have been in place for many years.

"I think it's a good move on the part of those clubs to help support the infrastructure of football,'' added Sabir, who noted that it would be exciting for fans to have two new venues for night matches. Presently night games are not played at the eastern end of the Island.

"I hope their entry as night field operators will be fruitful,'' said Sabir.

"There have been ongoing discussions with the BFA for a number of months and they are working feverishly to get those lights up and running.'' A third day of heavy rain on the Island put paid to the remaining FA Cup double-header planned for Devonshire Rec. last night.

The first round match between Dandy Town and St David's, which had already been postponed once, and the replay between Second Division Prospect and struggling First Division rivals Devonshire Cougars, who drew 3-3 on Friday, were called off at around 2.30 p.m. yesterday.

The other double-headers at Somerset Cricket Club and BAA Field, re-arranged after postponements and abandonments on Sunday, had been called off on Monday because of the unavailability of the Somerset field and floodlight problems at BAA.

The BFA said the matches have been tentatively arranged for January 28.

The BFA were yesterday attempting to clarify the result of a Commercial League Group B match on Saturday between Prison Officers and Forties which was reported by the referee, a new recruit, as a 3-2 win for Forties.

However, a Prison Officers member insisted the match finished 2-2, the same scoreline confirmed by a Forties player, with Steven Garratt scoring one goal and not two for Forties. If the match finished 2-2 then Prison Officers remain on top of the division by one point over Forties.