Barrow AFC.net

I was at the ground today talking to a lad putting in a new earth which amongst
Other bits n bobs he told me has me worrying a lot,

The lad said the fa from Carlisle way are on our backs and that it's going
To be massive job,and said around half way down where the two lights are
Thay'll have to chop the tops off and move the floodlights to there as
Tops are rotten and are a danger, which could end up turning into some
Really major,

Didn't really want to put this up as don't want to be negative
But I feel we as fans must know about this so I'll post and see what happens
I'm not a lier and have no need to lie on this,

I would like to help out it some way do somethink about it
I don't know what to do to help or where to start
And wish I hadn't of been to the ground today
And found this out

This is nothing new; the condition of the floodlights has been a concern for quite some time. Three of the four pylons are now 50 years old and have probably had minimal maintenance for most of that time. They won't last for ever, and probably need quite a bit of work on them, sooner rather than later.

It's not being negative, Barrowabc, it's being realistic.

It was mentioned at the AGM or previous meet the board night that someone had rung the council and reported them for health and safety reasons (or personal reasons!).

I think there is a photoshop image on the forum somewhere that shows what they might look like.

Why don't we have a save the floodlights campaign like the church does with save the roof. How much does a new one cost anyway?

We already knew this - Holker St/Wilkie Road both had to be closed at some point over winter with pieces of floodlights falling off.

They're not insanely expensive, but they cost a fair whack - enough to not be worth doing if the ground replacement was going to go ahead in the near term. With the development appearing to have fallen through, however, we will almost certainly need some work doing. New floodlights probably cost something in the region of £50-100k. But we've also got the costs of removing the current ones... so it may work out cheaper to modify the current pylons if it's feasible.

Are there grants available for this sort of ground improvement (Football Trust or something)?

to replace the three old light towers would be well over £400,000.

Jim wrote:Are there grants available for this sort of ground improvement (Football Trust or something)?

Maybe someone could shed some light on this?

Sorry - I'll get me coat)

Are the rugby in same boat ? And trying to raise the cash them selfs ?
Was hoping to win the euro lotto last night to help club out
Didn't win it's fair to say

yes they are Tommy, but with the type of light towers they have (just like lamp posts in the street) they need £100,000 to replace the all theirs.

Jim wrote:Are there grants available for this sort of ground improvement (Football Trust or something)?

Yes, there are, Jim, through Sport England but crucially you have to show that the grant support will encourage people to begin or continue sport. In other words, we couldn't just ask for the money and continue as we are - the club would have to show the potential for greater use being made of the lighting facility. The other point to remember is that new lighting systems are considerably cheaper to run.

Maybe it's time for both clubs to come together, both teams playing in crumbling grounds - I know people don't like the idea

Perhaps we could get a major sponsor to pay for new floodlights - domg energy maybe - with the lights generated by wind turbines - I'm sure grants would be available for a scheme like that

This is on the to do list. How much longer they can stay as they are is the big question. This is what they look like at Brunton Park Tommy, we'll have to do the same with 3 of the 4 at Holker Street. I believe the club should be immediately enquiring about support for this through http://www.footballfoundation.org.uk/ as I don't know how else we could pay for this work. In fact should we be looking at http://www.footballfoundation.org.uk/ for support to our ground improvements wherever possible. This is exactly the sort of major project it is there to help clubs with.

It has been said by the board for the past 2 seasons at least that the floodlights HAVE TO be addressed because they are NOT safe, so I really don't know why they have not been made a priority. At the end of the day if at some point someone turns round and finally condemns them, that would then mean the ground being closed which means we cannot play any games and then we really are stuffed. Bearing in mind the trouble the rugby seem to be in as well, is it not time the silly and to be blunt childish sentiment and pride was put to bed and both clubs had proper discussions with real intention about the practicallities of using one ground or the other, then spend the money made/left over from the sale of which ever on the one ground and the pitch so they can share? Yes I did say the naughty SHARE word! I don't particularly like the idea of sharing anymore than anyone else but for goodness sake let's see sense at last for the sake of both clubs. I am extremely impressed by the money donated and the work currently being done by the volunteer group but even they would admit they are only plastering over the cracks in the short term. The cost of the real work needed on both grounds to bring them up to standard must be be astronomical and lets be realistic, un achievable without a major backer.

How do the club address the floodlight problem when they are 200K in debt?
The club would be closed if they don't pay their HMRC debts first (PAYE, VAT, NI etc), the club had a transfer embargo put on them in January because of this.
As mentioned at the AGM the probablity is that the top of the floodlights will be cut off and the unsafe bits removed but its not exactly straight forward or cost free to do this. They clearly need to be adressed but its paying for it that will be the problem.