Darlaston is delighted to announce that following a Football Foundation Grant of just over £20,000 their Paycare Ground is now enclosed with fencing on the three open sides of their ground in an effort to secure their facility. The three boundaries were previously open to public access as pathways ran alongside the River Tame. The remaining boundary is formed by gardens from houses on Wrexham Avenue. The whole scheme took over 12 months from inception to completion, delays were obviously caused by the COVID Pandemic and the need to apply for Planning Permission from the local authority.

The tight green meshed fencing was installed by Sports Ground Development Limited, this is the second time the company has worked on the Paycare Ground after they installed the floodlights at the beginning of last season. Sports Ground Development has once again completed an outstanding job, working in difficult wet conditions and worked very hard to ensure none of the pitches or surrounds were damaged by their heavy machinery for which we are extremely thankful. The fence line is over 450 meters long and includes three access gates at strategic points along with a 3m wide double gate to allow vehicles to park at the back of Pitch 4 as usual.

As a condition of the Football Foundation Grant, the club has made a 30% contribution to the total cost of the fencing and installation which was over £25,000. The contribution was necessary to ensure Darlaston complied with the terms and conditions of the Football Foundation Grant requirements.

Schemes such as this and the installation of floodlights along with other major ground improvements are only ever possible with grants from organisations such as the Football Foundation, without them clubs would just not be able to afford the improvements necessary to progress up the football pyramid or improve their facilities.