Stubbington Football Club to get new portable goals after council funding boost

Stubbington Football Club have been given a boost of nearly £5,000 from council funds which has helped buy five sets of portable goalposts.

Stubbington FC chair Amanda Stevens said: “Coaches and players are really looking forward to the start of this season which kicks off this weekend – the pitches look fantastic and the goals finish them off perfectly.”

She said because the goals are portable they can be moved around to allow goal mouth areas to recover. The club has its own line painting machine, which allows the pitch layout to be changed to prevent the wear of pitches and particularly goal mouths.

Mrs Stevens said the project, led by Stubbington’s vice chair Steve Mann, has meant the club can buy five sets of goals covering 11v11, 9v9 and mini soccer.

The grassroots club have 30 teams and nearly 500 players; some 400 children from the age of four and around 50 adults playing across three leagues from the local community of Stubbington.

She said: “As a club, a few years ago we recognised the need to improve and develop our facilities in order to be able to continue to provide access to football for the number of children keen to play.”

The strategy was to develop the infrastructure and get our 80 volunteers in the right place to take this forward and to be able to lease the pitches through the council.

Grants via the Football Foundation and co-investment by the club and keen volunteers has enabled the community club to purchase substantial equipment to support pitch improvement and now the portable goals.

The club got another boost when the supplier of the goals, MH Goals, one of Hampshire FA’s partners, provided a discount to the club, said Ms Stevens.

The total cost of the project is £10,569, with £4,999 grant from Fareham Borough Council’s community fund, £5,000 being funded by the Football Foundation and £570 from the club’s reserves.

After approving the grant, Councillor Connie Hockley, executive member for leisure and community, said: “I am very happy to support their bid to the community fund and hope to see these improvements come to fruition.

“Improvements to the quality of the pitches will not only improve facilities for Stubbington but for many other users, such as cricket players, dog walkers, families, young people and community groups.”