Rovers granted improvement funding

Tuffley Rovers are celebrating three separate grant awards that have helped ensure that their Glevum Park home is looking much improved!

Despite the long gap without football action, Tuffley Rovers have continued their preparations for the 2020/21 season and have released tremendous support from Sport England the Football Foundation, in the form of three grants that have enabled the club to make improvements on and off the pitch at Glevum Park.

First, the club were able to invest in improving the surface at their home venue, which was much needed after the harshest of winters, and an award of nearly £4,000 from Sport England has helped ensure that the pitch is in tip-top condition ahead of the first home pre-season game, scheduled for 13 August 2020.

The challenging winter conditions and then the cessation of activities associated with Covid-19 meant that the installation of a new pitch-side barrier system was significantly delayed, but the work on this was completed in the last week, further enhancing the improving appearance of Rovers’ ground, as part of a programme of works that had started when the club returned to the Hellenic League in 2013.  This work was completed with the support of a significant grant from the Football Stadia Improvement Fund.

This piece of work was led by former Chair, Neil Spiller, who stood down in May but has continued in the role of Football Secretary.

“When we re-entered the Hellenic League we had to make a number of improvements to our ground and at that time our financial position meant that we could only erect a temporary solution, with a pitch-side fence made from scaffold poles”, he explained.

“That served its purpose but last season we suffered some damage in one part of the ground and we had to look at a more permanent solution. This led to an application to the Football Foundation, who have been tremendously supportive, and we were able to secure a sizeable grant that means we now have a fence installed that is a source of genuine pride”, he added.

The new fence is the latest in a series of changes that has seen new stands, terracing and dugouts installed at the home of The Rovers and that isn’t the end to the improvments.

Most recently, the club received further support, in the shape of the Football Foundation’s Club Preparation Fund, which has allowed the club to install additional hygiene facilities to help meet Government requirements in relation to Covid-19.

Newly appointed Football Chairman, Dan Boon, was delighted with the support the club had received from the various funding channels.

“Like many Non-League clubs, we have faced a number of challenges around loss of revenue and other issues arising from the early end to the 2019/20 season, which was particularly difficult given how much the dreadful weather between October and March had impacted upon the club”, he said. “This funding has allowed us to make both short-term and long-term improvements to Glevum Park and we can only thank Sport England and The Football Foundation for their continued support.”

Although it might be a while before spectators can see all the improvements, given the current prohibition on spectators attending games, the club hope that future visitors and pre-season opposition will be able to notice the further progress which has been made.