Worthing appeal about to reach the 40k mark

Twelve days ago Worthing FC launched their 'Future's Bright' appeal, which hoped to raise forty three thousand pounds towards the cost of ground improvements. We spoke to club owner George Dowell, who was cautiously optimistic about achieving their goal, and explained why the cash was required:

"The idea of this ground improvement is that it makes us future-proof. There are a number of things that need to be done, some for now, and some with an eye on future promotions, perhaps to a level as high as Step One of the Non-League system.

First of all, we need new floodlights. The current ones are so old they are almost redundant, it’s almost impossible to get replacement bulbs, and when you do source them they seem to expire about ten minutes after you’ve fitted them. It’s really costly- and we need to replace them to meet ground grading requirements if we were able to get promoted. Then we want to revamp the North East corner of the ground- it needs new food provision, a new toilet block, a new bar, and we also need to modernise the currently disused turnstiles at that end. That will allow us to introduce segregation if necessary, which we don’t need in the Isthmian League but would be a requirement if we were to be lucky enough to go higher. Even without promotion, we want to reduce queues for toilets, drinks and food, and provide a better experience for supporters who come to watch football here.

We need to install new changing rooms too, and we hope to get those built and all of the work done before we kick off the 2020-21 season- but of course that all costs money. We’ve been lucky enough to get ninety-six thousand pounds from the Premier League Football Stadia Improvement Fund, and another eleven thousand from a generous corporate donor, but that still leaves a forty three thousand shortfall, so that’s why we are crowdfunding. People who give their cash can also purchase stand sponsorships, get their name on the wall of fame, buy a signed shirt, a mascot experience, a commemorative 2019-20 ‘Expunged. But not forgotten’ t-shirt. We’ve lots of offers to tempt them."

Well they've certainly been tempted, and George's optimism was certainly not misplaced. As we write, the total raised is a rather colossal £39,234. Congratulations to all at Woodside Road- already a lovely ground to visit, but it seems about to get lovelier still!

You can read the original interview, which has a link to the appeal, by heading here.