Football club in West Sussex open again after storm damage to clubhouse led to match cancellation

Burgess Hill Town FC announced on Wednesday, January 1, that the New Year’s Day game with Eastbourne Town had to be postponed due to ‘substantial storm damage’ to the clubhouse, which resulted in no power.

They said: “Our team are on site working to limit the damage and once we know more we will update.”

Burgess Hill Town FC chairman Vince Alfieri said on the club’s website on Friday, January 3: “48 hours on from the roof being torn off by high winds causing electrical issues and some flooding, tonight we open the doors again, hosting a function following speedy repair work.

“When I was standing in the clubhouse Wednesday morning I feared the worst, however, we forget the clubhouse was installed over 50 years ago with a 10 year shelf life, but has battled through all this time, and has done so again.”

He said the ‘speedy recovery’ was made possible by the local community.

Vince said: “Initially by the first responders who made it safe and prevented further damage, Terry Petch our back of the net chef, Tom Welfare and his team at LRG group. Gary Smale from United Electrical who repaired all the electrics over the last two days. A massive thank you to Peter Fraser and Jamie Wood of FraserWood Construction Ltd who made permanent repairs to the roof today meaning we are good to go once again.

“Thank you to everybody who made this possible, David Bradbury for coordinating it all and finally to all those who contacted me offering help, this incident serves as another reminder of how much the football club means to people from our community. Our focus now returns to winning football matches and hosting social events that we can all enjoy.”