New Stand – Shildon AFC

Shildon AFC awarded £57,027 to build new stand

The Premier League through the Football Stadia Improvement Fund ( FSIF), the largest funder of non-league football in this country, recently announced a grant of £57,027 to Shildon AFC

The grant will enable the Club to build a new 200 seated stand, providing much needed accommodation to enhance spectator experience.

The project will see the building of a purpose built stand to replace the upper seated section of the existing stand. The project which is being undertaken by Vest Construction and Stadium Solutions is due to commence on September 17 with completion due before Christmas.

Funded with £5.2m each year from the Premier League, the FSIF is the country’s largest provider of grants towards projects that help improve the comfort and safety of lower league football grounds in both the professional and amateur game. These improvements range from new football stands and turnstiles to floodlighting and improved provision for disabled supporters.

David Dent, Chairman of Shildon AFC said ” thanks to the support of the Premier League through the FSIF, we can now offer our supporters and the wider community a much improved experience when they come to the game. Shildon AFC prides itself on being a true community focused football club and the improved facilities will not only benefit supporters watching our first team but also all of those who attend Academy games and our Development Centre days. This is an important milestone for the Club and hopefully will be the catalyst for further improvements to the ground as we seek to go as far as we can up the pyramid ”

Dean Street transformation starts to take shape

Following the decision to stay at Dean Street plans are now starting to take shape for the redevelopment of the ground.

The bar has recently been refurbished to provide a bar and social space and will transform into classrooms during the day for the Sunderland AFC Academy’s Football Scholarship, which commences in September.

Work will commence in early June for essential ground maintenance which will include the replacement of East View Wall and a planning submission has now been formally lodged for a new 200 seater stand which will complement the main stand and changing / bar facilities.

Chairman David Dent stated: “In committing to stay at Dean Street we realised that we needed to invest in our current facilities to help sustain this fantastic ground.

“Thanks to the support of our Board and Supporters Club we have made a great start and subject to funding support from the relevant bodies, we hope to have our new stand ready for the beginning of the 2017/18 season with the Lee Hainsworth stand being located elsewhere within the ground.”

David went onto say: “This complements all the the work that our Management team are doing close season to ensure that we have another successful season on the pitch. We also hope to make announcements in the near future about further additions to our Board which will promote the realisation of our longer term ambitions.

“This is an exciting time to be involved with the Club.”