Hallam FC Chairman: Impact of climate change on grassroots clubs has been 'horrendous'
Richard Pillinger tells us nearly half of their home games have been called off because of the weather in the 2023/24 campaign
The Chairman of a non-league football team in South Yorkshire tells us his side have had up to '29 fixtures' - both home & away - postponed this season due to bad weather.
Richard Pillinger - from Hallam FC in Sheffield - who play in the Northern Counties East Football League Premier Division - says that includes around 50% of their home games.
He says playing conditions seem to be getting worse every year due to climate change:
"You've gone from the days of gentle showers to belting down rain, like tropical monsoons.
"We're having a new drain put in this year, but it's money that we've got to find and fund ourselves.
"Last April, when the previous season finished, we had new seeds put down on our pitch.
"The cost of the seed is around £640. Last April, it ended up bouncing it down, so it just all ended up washing away, and £640 is a lot of money in non-league football.
"Ultimately, any kind of grant would lead to a better surface, it's as simple as that.
"Unbelievably, we had 29 games postponed and changed due to the fixtures and bad weather.
"About 17 of those were at Sandygate, which's near enough half of our home games.
"It's just been horrendous, really."
Sport England have today announced 100 million pounds of funding into grassroots clubs - with 10 million of that going towards restoring flooded football pitches.