Historic week for Peacehaven and Telscombe FC

After six weeks of fundraising Peacehaven & Telscombe FC have got the necessary funds to become a Community Owned football club.

After the turbulent season experienced at The Sports Park last season which saw the club come close to going under, a group of supporters from the youth section, Peacehaven Utd and Peacehaven & Telscombe FC came together with the aim of bringing the club into community ownership.

A target of £35,000 was set to achieve community status and this has now been achieved.

Scores of individuals and businesses have supported the scheme which now means the club is in a viable position going forward.

Fundraising champion and interim board member Mike Bradbury said: “This has been a challenging period for everyone involved with raising the necessary funds. But we’ve done it and I’m delighted.”

Bradbury, who was involved with Manchester club FC United when they set up as a Community Club, continued: “This has been a massive team effort. To bring together what had been essentially three football clubs under the one community umbrella means amongst other things, we will be stronger going forward and have a sustainable business model.”

The club received another boost with the announcement of a sponsorship deal for next season when international betting giant Unibet agreed to be the club’s main sponsor for the new season.

Unibet used The Sports Park as one of their international locations in April to film their new sports documentary series: #LuckIsNoCoincidence. They were so impressed with the welcome they received they have now agreed an initial one year main sponsorship deal with the club.

Acting club chair Sue Norwood said: “We are delighted to have sealed this sponsorship deal with Unibet. This agreement is the best in the history of this football club.”

Mrs Norwood continued: “I would like to take this opportunity to thank Ben Cove, a former Peacehaven & Telscombe FC player for considering our club.” “The money will greatly enhance our club going forward as a Community Benefits Society, and will be used to ensure we can further develop our teams to maintain our presence in the Southern Combination League, through coaching and team building.”

She concluded: “I am really looking forward and excited about the new season and to build on our relationship with Unibet.”

Ben Cove, Global Head of content for Unibet said: “We at Unibet are delighted to have agreed this sponsorship deal with Peacehaven & Telscombe FC for the coming season.”

He continued: “Initially the relationship between Peacehaven & Telscombe FC and Unibet began when we used The Sports Park facilities as a location for filming our new sports documentary series: #LuckIsNoCoincidence.”

“We were highly impressed by the community spirit and never-say-die attitude of the current committee members, who have brought the club back from the brink.”

“Unibet is a truly multinational company with a significant global presence, but it’s also nice to be able to support such a worthy local sporting project like this one.”

Cove concluded: “We look forward to watching the newly-formed community club grow and prosper in the coming months and years, and hope we can play a small part in ensuring football survives in the area for generations to come.”

Find out more about Peacehaven & Telscombe FC at www.peacehavenfc.co.uk