South Yorkshire football club finds enterprising way to stay afloat

Like so many smaller clubs, Penistone Church FC of the Northern Counties East Premier division rely on matchday income to get by.

There are no billionaire owners or lucrative TV deals to pay the bills. Even among their peers competing at step five of the National league system, Penistone’s resources are modest.

“We’re a genuine community club, we have no money man. The obvious hit for us is financial,” committee member Ian Richardson said.

Prior to the lockdown the club – who averaged home crowds of more than 250 this season - had two matches postponed, which has made the impact of having no games even worse.

Ian added: “There were a few of us in the clubhouse the night Boris Johnson made the announcement and we got chatting about the sort of things we could do to generate some income.

“One of the ideas we had was to do a Go Fund Me and host three virtual football matches of 90 minutes with commentary based on previous games.”

The matches are free to watch and, if they wish, people can donate the usual price of matchday costs such as admission, a programme, a pint or a pie.

Ian said: “It’s gone really well, the first game we raised £1,100.

“We have got people donating who have lost their escapism and their Saturday afternoon out.”

The club set themselves a target of £3000 and had raised nearly £2500 by Saturday (April 11), with one person even donating £250.

Penistone’s first team players have also donated some of their match fees from the club’s last game to help out.

Ian said: “It’s been brilliant. The £250 was amazing. One the flip side, just as amazing are all the fiver’s we have had. For some people that’s all they can afford at the moment so we’re equally as grateful.”

The club’s third virtual match will take place on April 30. More information will be published on their Twitter page.

To donate to Penistone Church click here.