Stafford Town News

Stafford Town FC Receive Christmas Bonus Local Community Club Stafford Town FC have received an early Christmas bonus by receiving £647kStafford Town Football Club have been given an early Christmas present with the news that they will receive funding of £647,375 to become a sporting hub in their community. Local MP David Kidney and Football Foundation President Lord Pendry presented cheques to club representatives Thursday 20th December at the site in Riverway, Stafford. Also present were Steve Town from Sport England, Andy Weston from the Staffordshire County FA, Keith Williams, Staffordshire Environmental Fund along with Gordon Evans from Stafford Town FC. The Club have been awarded £497,375 from the Football Foundation, the UKs largest sports charity. This funding will provide a new six-changing room pavilion, which will also include a coach education or function room. The Club has also received a further £150,000 as part of the Community Club Development Programme (CCDP). CCDP is a Government funded scheme, managed nationally by Sport England and delivered by the Football Foundation, specifically earmarked to develop links between the countrys leading junior clubs and their local communities, providing quality coaching and safe environments for young people to enjoy the national game. The Football Association identified Stafford Town FC as being eligible for CCDP investment. The completion of the new facility will put an end to the nomadic existence of the Club. Since it was formed 31 years ago, the Club has moved from ground to ground. It will now be the proud owners of this new facility, and have somewhere to call home. The new facility will be DDA compliant, giving the opportunity for disabled football. The plan over the next five years is to develop football from Under 9s to adult for both men and women, and provide disabled football for men and women, boys and girls. The Club will look to become an important part of the community, and will allow the facility to be used by the local community, and also to become a focal point for the local community. It will also work with its partners to optimise the best use of the facility for all concerned. Stafford Town FC Chairman Gordon Evans, said: Stafford Town is a Charter Standard Community Club, providing football for boys and girls, men and women, in a quality environment. In September 2007 the Club was voted Charter Standard Club of the Year for the whole of Staffordshire by the Staffordshire Football Association. The Club is very proud of this honour. To achieve this the Club has worked extremely hard in ensuring that its commitment to a Development Plan was adhered to, and that all of the things we did, we did them extremely well. Over the past three and a half years, the Club has been heavily involved with the Stafford Borough Council, Staffordshire FA and the Football Foundation, in tandem with Sport England, in pulling together a proposal for six new changing rooms, conference room and kitchen, along with mini-pitches. Thanks to the fantastic help of all of these people, plus financial help from The Staffordshire Environmental Fund, we managed to get the proposal through local authority planning in August, and then sent the total package off to the Football Foundation for ratification. Lord Pendry, President of the Football Foundation, said: I am delighted that a great club like Stafford Town FC will now be able to play a vital role in developing the grass roots game in their area. The CCDP funding partnership between The Football Association, Sport England and the Football Foundation is strengthening the bond between local clubs and the communities they serve. Steve Town, Regional Director Sport England, congratulating the Club said: This award from Sport Englands Community Club Development Programme, delivered through the Football Foundation, will enable Stafford Town Football Club to offer more sporting opportunities to priority groups women and girls and people with disabilities. Providing the Club with its own ground, will also enhance the work it does to nurture talent and provide sporting pathways for young people, enabling them to reach their full potential. This a great grassroots sport project, and I congratulate everyone involved in achieving this award and I look forward to visiting the new facility next year. Andy Weston, Staffs FA County Development Manager had the following to say: The Football Foundation and Sport England funding is fully deserved following the huge amount of hard work which has been put in by the Club volunteers. This should be a fantastic facility, which will enable all sections of the Club to move forward. Jim Arnold, Head of Leisure, Stafford Borough Council said: I am absolutely delighted to hear the news that the bid to the Football Foundation has been successful. It is an excellent project and thoroughly deserves the significant investment that is to be made at Riverway. I am particularly pleased for Gordon Evans and his team that has worked so hard over the last few years to bring this about and make a dream come true. I remember distinctly the first time Gordon Evans and I met to discuss the opportunity to develop the new Stadium at Riverway and can recall the fact that it was going to be a long hard to road to achieving a successful bid based on our experience of a previous project with numerous hoops and hurdles to jump through and I think Gordon will agree that it certainly hasnt been plain sailing. However when you have a man so committed and dedicated as he is, coupled with able and willing volunteers to assist we should never have doubted the outcome. This is a welcome shot in the arm for the development of community sporting facilities in the Borough and in particular for football. A facility of this standard is long overdue and I am looking forward to seeing the dream becoming an active reality in the near future. John Dutton Chief Executive, Staffordshire Environmental Fund said: Through the Landfill Communities Fund supported by Biffa, SEF seeks to help projects that involve the community and the environment, preferably those that create useful facilities. SEF also aims to combine its grants with those of other organisations to create a multiplier effect. The Stafford Town FC project has involved all these features and SEF is pleased to have been of help. We wish the Club, its teams and helpers every success.