NEEDHAM Market FC have been awarded £20,000 towards upgrading their floodlights.

The Football Foundation grant will enable the club to carry out refurbishment of the existing metal halide floodlight system costing a total of £29,642.

Rob Peace, who is operations director at the club, said that the six floodlights – three on both sides of the ground – had come to the end of their natural life.

The grant plus private investment and club funds will enable them to bring the electrics to up current standards.

Peace said work on the floodlights at their Bloomfields ground (pictured above) will start as soon as possible and should only take a few days to complete.

He said: “It will provide us with peace of mind and works towards our ten-year plan as we had identified this as a problem.

“We are very proactive as a club and have taken this opportunity to renovate our lights and bring them up to standard.

“Needham Market FC have hugely benefited from Football Foundation funding over the last few years and we are very thankful for the assistance we have received from The FA, Suffolk FA and the Football Foundation to provide pots of money we can access.

“The FA and the Football Foundation have been very good in helping grassroots clubs through this pandemic and making access available to these pots of money is a great credit to them.”

Suffolk FA Football Development Manager Jodie Allard said: “Congratulations to Needham Market FC on their successful funding bid to the Football Foundation to enable the refurbishment of their floodlight system.

“This award highlights the continued and proactive approach the club have taken to ensuring they can utilise all of the available pots available to support the development of their stadia.

“The Football Foundation’s Football Stadia Improvement Fund (FSIF) is a bespoke funding scheme to support clubs within the National League System to improve stadium safety and enable clubs to satisfy The FA’s ground grading requirements.

“I am sure the improvement to the lighting system will enable the club to continue to host a thriving programme of training and match play across their facilities for the benefit of their members.”