TIME is ticking on the ground development works required at Warrington Town FC following their promotion to National League North.
On the pitch, the Yellows have exceeded expectations and are settled in mid-table in English football’s sixth tier with 37 points on the board.
But survival also requires work to be done off the pitch to their Cantilever Park ground to meet the ground grading standards of the National League, a so-called grade two.
Planning was approved for the work, which consists of a new stand construction and associated facilities, new turnstiles and other fan provision improvements, back in November but the club is forced to wait to begin the main parts of the work until it unlocks significant funding from the Premier League Stadium fund.
A delay to planning approval, as well as a complex issue uncovered relating to the sewerage connection with United Utilities, has hampered the club’s efforts.
Speaking to BBC Radio Merseyside, club chairman Toby Macormac said: “There’s not much to report at present, which is a little bit disappointing. It is slipping. I’ll admit, it’s becoming a bit of a precarious situation that we find ourselves in. The horizon is becoming bigger with the deadline (March 29th).
“We’ve got two really big challenges we need to overcome, which is a sewerage connection which of course goes to a government statutory provider, which will take time. We need to have a design put on to the ground where it’s going so we can break out and put concrete pads in, which we’re also behind with.
“I have to remain positive to try and achieve it. It’s just difficult that we seem to press on with a task, such as the sewerage connection, then sort of mid-task we encounter things we didn’t expect. The erection of the new stand, we’ve found some issues with concrete pad design.
“We’re encountering challenges as we go. Of course, people will say have you started it too late, but we didn’t really get the green light from local authority until November 23rd which hasn’t helped, so we started off on the backfoot.”
The club has raised almost £20,000 through a crowdfunding campaign, though time rather than finance may be the biggest challenge.
With home games against Alfreton Town and Southport coming up, it is then hoped that work can move on to widening the pathways all the way around the ground, which will also include the installation of steel handrails.
Once the Premier League Stadium funding arrives, which will cover around 60% of the total bill, then work can begin on installing the concrete pads required to house the new away stand, which will comprise of 182-seats and a terrace.
When the sewerage connection issues are resolved, the groundwork can be done for the new toilet blocks and refreshment kiosks to be dropped in, which will form the new away end, which must be self-sustaining for the requirement of segregated matches, such as the one against Chester on New Year’s Day.
There is a deadline of March 29th to have the work completed, though the example of Peterborough Sports – who were granted an extension last season – may be used to help the Yellows.
Macormac added: “One of the guys at the FA I correspond with regularly sends a sheet for me to fill in every month and I’ve been quite detailed in some of the challenges that we faced early on. We’re hoping that we enter a situation similar to Peterborough Sports, where they gained an extension last year and I’m not sure what theirs was for.
“With ours, some of the work is statutory provider and local authority driven so some of the delays are out of our hands. I think if we’re in a position where we’ve done everything that we can off our list, if it’s something that’s been delayed by outside forces maybe that’s something that will go towards an extension.”
Despite the pressure of the looming deadline, Macormac says the club is enjoying its time in National League North.
Crowds have averaged over 1,000 at Cantilever Park this season, with merchandise flying off the shelves at unprecedented rates, with planning already underway to improve the club’s infrastructure ahead of the 2024/25 season.
He also praised the club’s fans for their efforts in raising money for the cause.
He added: “There’s been a phenomenal response there. We did the groundfunder that’s touching £20,000 now, which is really positive, and we’ve had countless offers of volunteer days, and we need to be strategic with those. We need to put ourselves in a position where when we’ve got a big task at the ground, we know we need a big crew and we’re going to look at that because we need to utilise those days as best as we can.
“It’s an interesting challenge. It’s certainly a learning curve, which is great. You’re still learning things about the game and the different rules and regulations, and you can help other clubs that come into the same challenges. It has got hidden challenges. You read through ground grade documents and rules and regulations and then someone all of a sudden turns up at the ground and tells you something that you just weren’t expecting, and that happened to us, and that created a circa £15,000 problem that was presented to us.
“But we’re really enjoying it, meeting all the new people and going to the new grounds. And the great thing about going to the new grounds is that they’re all ground grade two and above, which is what we’re required to achieve. So I’ve seen some great ideas at some grounds in what they’ve constructed and how they fulfill their obligations, and sometimes a copy and paste is better than reinventing the wheel. So I’ve seen some great ideas that we can bring in here and hopefully, it’ll get us over the line for the 29th.”
