Hungerford have ground to work on

Season-long plan to meet ground grading standards

HUNGERFORD TOWN were given further encouragement when the club’s Bulpit Lane ground came under scrutiny by the National League’s inspection panel.

As a newly promoted club, Hungerford have been given some leeway in preparing the ground for level two football and had already made contingency plans for some of the work that will be needed to bring the ground up to standard.

“It was not as bad as we feared,” said chairman Nigel Warrick. “We have until March to carry most of the work.”

The club is hoping that floodlight improvements carried out before the end of last season will suffice, while much of the other work is comparatively minor.

Major work will include the provision of a 250-seater single area, but the club has stand extensions on order but must first secure all the necessary permissions.

Other matters may include providing a ground capacity of 3,000 – around double the club’s record attendance – and improvements to technical areas, the public address system, directors’ and media areas, toilets and an additional turnstile.

Grants are available from The Football Stadia Improvement Fund and The Football Foundation for up to 50 per cent of the cost of many of the fixtures.