Photo courtesy of Sean Walsh
PLANS for required ground development at Cantilever Park were approved last week, but Warrington Town chairman Toby Macormac admits there are still plenty of challenges ahead.
The Yellows have brought the highest level of football the town has ever seen this season, and currently sit eighth in National League North – the sixth tier of the football pyramid – following Saturday’s dramatic 2-1 win at home to Rushall Olympic.
Following their promotion, there is a requirement to upgrade Cantilever Park to meet the next level of ground grading as stipulated by the FA.
This includes the creation of a self-sufficient, segregated away end – comprising of seating and terracing, toilets, food/drink facilities and separate turnstiles – as well as numerous other improvements within the ground.
One of the most costly is the requirement to widen the concreted areas around the pitch to ensure capacity is maintained in those areas, as well as the installation of steel handrails in all standing areas.
The projected cost of that work has already put paid to plans to install two additional terraces to accommodate home supporters, which were shelved until a further date when the planning application was submitted back in September.
The current application was approved by the development management committee at the Town Hall on Thursday, meaning focus can now turn to the funding and execution of the plans.
Work has to be done to satisfy the FA’s ground graders by the end of March 2024, otherwise the Yellows face relegation from National League North – regardless of their league placing.
Macormac said: “Even though the planning application has passed, it doesn’t alter the fact that we’ve now missed the November funding window due to delays in various areas.
“It now means we’re going to have to do as much work as we can ourselves and reduce the grant application (to the Premier League Stadium Fund), so that when the money does drop in February, we can complete the work before the March 29th, as we’ll need ground grading visits ahead of the deadline.
“The plan now is to take some stuff out of the funding application – things like the snack bar, toilets, some of the pathway work and handrails, and try and get as much of this work done ourselves.
“Then hope the money drops in February and pray to God we get all the work done by March 29th.
“It’s easier to remove stuff that you can only qualify for 50% funding for, rather than the ones you get 70% for. Fans will have seen on Saturday we have started to tape off some areas where some work will be done.
“We’ve had a hammer blow from United Utilities too, that the cost to connect the sewage up from the toilet block to the sewer in the adjacent road is going to be between £6,000 and £12,000 because of the depth we have to dig down, so we’re going to alter the design and fit a septic tank behind the 3G area.
“The hole in funding that we anticipated was £80,000, and we estimate around £20,000 will be covered by the groundfunding campaign going on.”
The Yellows average crowds have risen by a further 50% in the 2023/24 season, with a 1,110 strong crowd for the game on Saturday taking the season’s average up to 1,040 for this campaign.
They are yet to welcome some of the bigger supported clubs to Cantilever Park too, with the likes of Scunthorpe United, Hereford and Chester all still to visit.
Performances on the pitch, with one of the lowest budgets in the league, have them just a point off the play-off places.
But as Macormac has said previously, this season is about staying in the division – both on and off the field.
The club explained in a statement last week that no funded works are allowed to commence until the money lands, leaving a tight deadline for the Yellows to meet come the spring.
More than £10,000 has so far been raised by an online fundraiser by the club, and a further update will be provided to fans at a Q&A evening on Wednesday 22nd November (free ticket required to book online) at the club.
