WEST ESSEX FC have been one of 1000GBP.com’s biggest winners since The Ultimate Football Quiz was launched this season to help raise funds for Non-League clubs.
The Essex Senior League side have already been awarded more than £1700 and, as general manager Dan Reading explained this week, the money will be an enormous help to the club.
“We currently run three adult teams, 23 junior teams and five girls only teams and we hope to add to those soon as well,” Dan, inset, said. “Even though we are all volunteers, it still costs us something like £150,000 a year to keep them all going, so this £1700 from 1000GBP.com is an incredibly useful and unexpected addition to our budget.”
Sixty different players of 1000GBP.com have already nominated West Essex FC as their benefiting club and Dan suggested that the flexibility of the available playing options is partly behind its popularity.
“One of the best things about 1000GBP.com is that people can choose how and when to play and select different levels to suit their income. It all helps. They are supporting the work of the club and enjoying a great quiz as well.”
West Essex FC was formed in 1989 when a group of friends who played for the West Essex Cricket Club also wanted to play football during the winter. Their soon-tobe re-opened clubhouse is at Rolls Sports Ground in Highams Park, in a densely populated part of east London, although their teams are dotted around the area.
Social fabric
Having led a peripatetic existence, this is the third season their first team have shared Wadham Lodge Stadium with neighbouring Walthamstow FC, but Dan is ambitious for the future.
“Our long-term goal is to have our own stadium at Rolls Park as we believe the club is an essential part of the local social fabric. East London is not a wealthy area, and there are high levels of unemployment and many people are on low incomes, so we have a duty to support them as much as we can by providing affordable sporting activity for the community.
“The first team get around 100 spectators and that can sometimes rise to maybe 250 for an FA Cup match. But because we want to make the matches as accessible as possible, we keep the prices low at just £6 for an adult, £3 concessions and free for U16’s.”
The spirit and ication of the volunteers who run the ded-Non-League game are typified by Dan who covers all aspects of the support operations for the adult teams. He joined the cricket club aged ten in 1982 and has been embedded in the football club since he helped found it 35 years ago.
“Just being involved with a local community club like ours is very fulfilling, and at senior level we’re all especially proud that we punch well above our weight and can compete with sides who have considerably bigger playing budgets,” he
