Emley AFC are continuing to make their home stadium the Fantastic Media Welfare Ground a fortress on and off the field, with club staff and volunteers working hard to improve the stadium facilities and features. Over 300 white seats have now been installed and further improvements are on the way with a new digital scoreboard and LED floodlights over the next few months.
These improvement projects have been partly funded by the Premier League Stadium Fund, as well as supporters digging deep and donating funds to help us complete these projects too which we very much appreciate.
We announced back in May this year that we would be giving supporters the opportunity to sponsor a seat and giving them a physical piece of history to cherish in their home stadium in Emley.
Our sponsor a seat scheme has gone down fantastically well. Supporters have paid £50 to sponsor one of the new 305 white seats donated by management staff at the John Smith's Stadium. There will soon be a plaque at the back of the stand with the sponsor's name or a loved one they have chosen to remember.
There are only a few seats remaining, sponsor a seat on the club shop and get your name down to be part of the history of our amazing club.
Another key improvement to the stadium that has been made is the fence which runs from the away dugout all the way down and across the Warburton End. Following damage to a section of the fence earlier this year, we recognised this needed to be improved rather than repaired. At our first Saturday home game of the season, yesterday (read the match report) allowed the 485 crowd to see the latest addition first hand.
Another new upgrade to the ground will be a digital scoreboard, this has been funded by a sponsor and it will be installed over the next few months. We are also working towards upgrading to LED floodlights for the Fantastic Media Welfare Ground meaning those magical moments on a cold mid-week match will be lit up like never before and cost a lot less.
On all these upgrades and improvements, Emley AFC Chairman Andrew Painten said: "We want to be top of the league in every department – on and off the pitch. I firmly believe we have the best stadium in the league and few at Step 5 across the country can match the Fantastic Media Welfare Ground. These improvements – those completed and on the horizon – cement that place.”