Report by Samuel Brady
The non-league side say funding and support they have received is ‘great’ as they battle through the pandemic.
Clubs in the UK’s lower tiers have suffered as a result of the restrictions enforced on them.
Football clubs who are classed as ‘non-elite’ and play in leagues below tier four of the football pyramid have been unable to receive crucial matchday income, as a combination of no crowds and league postponements have left many sides concerned over their immediate, and long-term futures.
However, Eastbourne Town FC are happy to be recipients of much needed funding.
The club’s Treasurer Mr David Jenkins said on the matter: “We received two separate grants from the football foundation. We received those (funds) sometime after the first lockdown.”
Mr Jenkins also stated how easy and helpful the funding has been for the club, “It’s great. They have been really easy to obtain, straightforward and the money just arrives and obviously for a club like ours we’ve got no matchday income its difficult. It’s looking to help with with costs that aren’t safe. We pay rent on our pitch, so we need to keep paying that even though we’re not playing.”
Mr Jenkins finished by praising the strong community spirit of the club: “We are a community club. We’ve got lots of people from different generations who have been involved with the club for years and continue to support us so that mixture of people who care about Eastbourne Town helped get us through.”
