Portsmouth CC president ‘hits winning six’ to take club past their £20,000 Crowdfunding pavilion redevelopment target

Club president Arthur Shaw, 75, has been associated with PCC ever since it was formed in 1989 via a merger of South Hants Touring Club, for whom he played, and Portsmouth & Southsea.

And over three decades later it is his generous donation which will help the St Helens-based club hopefully prosper - on and off the pitch - in a post-Covid landscape.

PCC had launched an ambitious online Crowdfunding campaign in November which needed to hit the £20,000 mark by January 3 in order to proceed.

Over 200 supporters had helped swell the total to over £17,000 by Christmas.

Step forward Shaw - along with his wife Diane and son Matt, who plays for the club - to pledge a whopping £3,500, leading to club chairman Rick Marston’s ‘hitting the winning six’ quip.

The donation is worth another £845 when Gift Aid, a scheme available to charities and grassroots sports clubs, is taken into account. Under Gift Aid rules, PCC can claim an extra 25p for every £1 donated.

Due to the Crowdfunding target being reached, work can start this month on internal refurbishment to a pavilion built in the early 1970s and now clearly showing its age. Patched up in places, it now needs a total makeover.

When completed, the facilities will be a far cry from those that greeted Shaw when he first played at the ground as a youngster for Cormorants.

Along with SHTC and Portsmouth & Southsea, Cormorants shared the rundown changing rooms at the then council-owned and run St Helens (the ground is still council-owned, but PCC pay an annual rent and are responsible for all maintenance work).

Shaw had joined the junior section at Cormorants as the team was run by the father of his Portsmouth Northern Grammar (now Mayfield) School friend Dave Whymark.

There was no clubhouse, just a van near the boundary rope selling teas and cakes.

During his playing days, Shaw was an all-rounder, batting left-handed around the middle order and bowling right-arm swing.

He captained the 1st XI on occasions and, according to his one-time SHTC team-mates Ian Preston-Jones, was a ‘good change bowler and partnership breaker.’

Shaw’s SHTC colleagues also included David Rock, who played 37 first class games for Hampshire between 1976-1979 as well as 18 one-day matches, and Barry Boorah, the leading wicket-taker in Southern League (1969-1999) history with 666 victims.

On retiring from playing, Shaw was elected PCC president in 2014 following the death of Geoff Elderfield, who had been on the Hampshire CCC committee and was a founding member of the SHTC.

Asked to recall his best performances, he said: ‘My highest innings was 110 against Fareham in a friendly. When the Southern League was formed there were only seven clubs and we didn’t play league games every week.

‘I also took seven wickets once.’

Shaw admits the current PCC are in a far better state than they were just over a decade ago. Back in 2007 they were relegated two divisions for fielding ineligible players, and the other Southern Premier League clubs had been asked to vote on whether to kick them out of the league completely.

‘The club was on the point of going under, and that’s when the parents of the colts decided to take over the running of the club,’ recalled Shaw.

‘It’s gone from strength to strength since then.

‘The parents have got more involved and there have been people prepared to take over and help. We’ve had that continuity, and it’s worked well.

‘This is one of the few places kids can play cricket in Portsmouth - there’s not much cricket played in the schools apart from the public ones at St John’s and Portsmouth Grammar.

‘It’s impressive to see how many kids we get here - every Friday during the summer it’s like a swarm of ants.

‘There’s a real community feel, a real community spirit, and that’s what has got me more and more interested.

‘Some of the kids have put their pocket money towards the appeal, which is lovely to see.

‘I’m just happy to help out in my own little way.

‘The pandemic has been a disaster for everyone. If there was a worse time to ask people for money, I would be interested to see it.

‘That’s why I wanted to help.’

Marston is hopeful the new facilities can help PCC - currently in the second tier - back into the top flight of the Southern Premier League.

‘The big goal is to get the first team back into the Premier Division,’ he remarked.

‘Having the new facilities will help to attract new players - a good bar helps, good changing rooms, a decent wicket.

‘We also want to carry on improving the facilities. The next big project will be to replace the nets - they’re a bit bouncy, a bit lively. That’ll cost around £20,000.

‘There’s always stuff to do.’

Like most grassroots sports clubs with their own facilities and bills to pay, the last nine months have been devastating financially.

‘We haven’t been able to hold any events that usually bring in the money, our bar has been shut for months so there’s been very little revenue coming in,’ Marston reported.

‘January is normally the month we try and get the membership money in, but at the moment we’ve got nothing to offer.

‘We would normally be holding indoor nets for colts and adults, so I don’t know how many people will pay up.

‘January could be a very difficult month.

‘Our insurance costs around £400-£500 a month, and the pavilion insurance will go up once we do the redevelopment work.’

Due to spending around £75,000 on the redevelopment, they are hopeful of soon negotiating a new tease with the city council. Committee member Alistair Thompson, a former councillor, is heavily involved in those talks.

While rent, bills and insurance still need to be paid, PCC have been relying on grants to help them through the pandemic.

They received £10,000 of Government help as a ‘small business’ shortly after lockdown was introduced last spring.

A £2,780 grant from Sport England was happily pocketed, followed by another one of £1,300 after the second lockdown was announced in early November.

PCC had also been hopeful of landing a further £10,000 Sport England grant to help with the pavilion refurbishments.

Though that fell through, the club have obtained major sponsorship from St Cross Homes to plug the gap in the finances.

‘There have been bits and pieces of work done over the years, and we’ve ended up with a rabbit warren of corridors,’ Marston said of the pavilion interior.

‘This plan has been on the backburner for four or five years, but we have not had the money.

‘The redevelopment work will put us in the Premier Division in terms of facilities; now we just need to get the team to that level.

‘For a city of Portsmouth’s size, we should be in the top division.

‘With the bigger balcony, this will be the best ground in the league in terms of viewing.

‘I know it can be cold when the wind is blowing, but we can’t control the weather!’

The Crowdfunding campaign is still running, and as of today had reached £22,581, plus another £4,837 in Gift Aid contributions. To donate, visit crowdfunder.co.uk and search for ‘Portsmouth CC redevelopment.’