Stadium funding boost for Marine

This award will enable Marine to carry out an array of improvements to their clubhouse, starting with the demolition of the old timber building situated behind the spectator stand.

Three new modular buildings will be installed to accommodate a match day snack bar, stewards control room, spectator first aid treatment room, club shop, match day office, kit store and a new spectator hospitality room.

The layout of the new buildings will also create a new spectator entrance and turnstiles adjacent to the clubrooms allowing improved spectator access.

The stadium upgrade, for which planning approval has been received, is planned to take place this summer and coincides with the start of the club’s 125th anniversary celebrations. Marine AFC was founded by a group of South Road traders at a meeting in the Marine Hotel (Now Champs Bar) in the summer of 1894.

Paul Leary, Marine FC Chairman, said: “This is fantastic news for our football club as we look forward to seeing a major upgrade to the front of our stadium coinciding with our 125th anniversary celebrations this summer. The FSIF have been very supportive towards our plans for the upgrade and I thank their review panel for making this vital grant offer, without which these stadium improvements could not take place.

“We are now able to proceed with final discussions with potential contractors to place orders for the works to be carried out. We anticipate that demolition of the old building will start at the beginning of May with the scheme completed ahead of our first prestigious pre- season friendly that opens our 125 celebrations in the middle of July”

“These are really exciting times for both Marine Football Club and Bath Street Marine Table Tennis club and I have no doubt that the completion of the two separate building projects this summer will lay the foundations of future success for all involved in these two great sporting institutions in Crosby.”

Peter McCormick OBE, Chairman of the Football Stadia Improvement Fund, said: “It is great to hear that a grant from the Premier League, through the FSIF, is going to help Marine AFC to renovate and improve their stadium and provide its members and spectators with a safer and more comfortable facility.

“Through the FSIF, the Premier League is committed to improving the standard of infrastructure at all levels of the game. It is important that investment makes its way to lower league clubs, and Marine FC’s stadium upgrade is a great example of what this funding can do.”