On alert to win massive windfall!

5 Apr 2017 By David Watters

EVO-STIK League Southern Hanwell Town could be celebrating a £50,000 windfall from FA Trophy sponsors Buildbase within days or even hours!

Expectant fans from the EVO-STIK League Southern Division One Central club are waiting to find out if they've won the funds for a summer makeover at Reynolds Field, pictured below, after representatives from the Geordies were at Wembley Stadium on Tuesday to make a case for choosing their home to renovate.

The EVO-STIK League Southern's representatives were among six shortlisted finalists, comprising three teams in each cup competition, who pitched their projects to a panel of judges from the FA and Buildbase at the national stadium. In the FA Trophy group, they are up against Mossley AFC and Stafford Rangers from the EVO-STIK Northern Premier League.

Announced in January and running over two years for clubs in England and Wales playing in the FA Trophy and FA Vase, Buildbase are donating £50,000 in building and electrical products, in addition to hire equipment, to two clubs in 2017 and another two in 2018. In the initial application process, each of the clubs outlined their development plans, while thousands of fans and local people went online to back their applications.

After the two 2017 winners are unveiled in the coming days, they'll be officially presented with their awards on the second Non-League Finals Day at Wembley on May 21 with renovation work on their grounds starting over the summer.

FA commercial director Mark Bullingham hailed the initiative by Buildbase, the successors to Carlsberg this season as the sponsors of the FA Trophy and FA Vase after signing a three year deal running until the end of the 2018-19 campaign.

He said: “This scheme could be a real boon for clubs wanting to expand, attract more supporters and become a real hub of their local community. It will be both the Non-League community and local fans that become the beneficiaries too, which can only be a good thing."

Buildbase CEO Kate Tinsley said: “As part of our sponsorship of The Buildbase FA Trophy and Buildbase FA Vase competitions, we wanted to support football at grass roots level and help local clubs whose facilities may not have seen any investment for decades.

"Together with The FA we’ve reviewed every club who applied to the Buildbase Renovation Programme and are now looking forward to helping two of them get the improvements they need to make a big difference within the community.”

Image courtesy of www.arleseytownfc.com

Follow the EVO-STIK League Southern on Twitter at @SouthernLeague1

Where next?

Wednesday's Central Division review The only game in the EVO-STIK League Southern's Division One Central on Wednesday night saw Aylesbury United moved up to eleventh in the table after a 3-1 win against Uxbridge at Thame, writes Pitchero's Steve Whitney.

Tuesday's Premier Division action review There was only one match in the EVO-STIK League Southern's Premier Division on Tuesday night but it was an important one concerning the bottom end of the table, writes Pitchero's Steve Whitney.