As repair work gets underway on Scarborough Athletic's home pitch, mid week attendance numbers at the club's temporary home in Bridlington are described as "concerning" by the club's Chairman.
Work has started this week on the repairs to Scarborough Athletic's home ground at Scarborough Sports Village.
The 3G Pitch has been out of action since June after serious defects were discovered.
The club has been playing it's home games at Bridlington since then, chairman - Trevor Bull - says that's had an impact on attendance figures and revenue.
"Our last home game was our biggest crowd of the season against Darlington but , it was probably a thousand down on what it would've been if we'd been playing it in Scarborough. So that's the size of the impact that the crowds are having.
And of course, we end up with situations like it's happening again at the moment where we get Saturday games postponed, they then become a Tuesday. Crowds have dipped dramatically on Tuesday nights. I think we're down to between five and 600 now which is really quite concerning.
But we've just gotta find a way through it.
Saturday crowds have held up. We started around a thousand. We're averaging around about 800 or so on a Saturday. Which is good, it is double what we used to get when we played in Bridlington first time round. So we've got to be pleased with that.
But we have to remember that Match days and attendance is the really the only way that we can make money between now and the end of the season. So we need that support to keep travelling. "
Trevor says the financial impact of the reduced attendance figures has been challenging, but he's confident the club will survive if the fans keep turning up to games.
"We're all in this together, and because we're a fans owned club, we are all in it together. We've all got an equal stake in this.
And we just need to keep supporting the club to keep the finances ticking over to get us back to Scarborough and then we'll go again.
We need to be thinking about surviving this season.
I said in the summer that. Priority number one is that we don't lose our football club. And we're not in a position at the moment where we're gonna lose it. I think. I think we're gonna get our way through as long as we can keep getting people through to Brid and we're fine because, you know 0ur finances such as that is the only thing that's a variable. Now, everything else, we know what income we've got coming in, but it's the crowds that we need to keep up.
So we, I'm pretty confident that we're gonna save our football club"
The current playing surface at Scarborough Sports Village is being removed by contractors this week, marking a significant milestone in the project.
This will then allow stabilisation works and drainage repairs to commence in the coming weeks, before a new pitch surface can be laid.
North Yorkshire Council owns the pitch and is responsible for the repair works, it’s executive member for leisure, Cllr Simon Myers, said:
“This marks a very important moment in this project and one that I’m sure is welcomed by all users of the pitch, including Scarborough Athletic and Scarborough Ladies, their members, supporters and the wider football community.
“We are absolutely committed to ensuring that the pitch is repaired to an excellent standard, and that it is done so as swiftly as possible to minimise the impact on everyone.
“We know how important this is for not only the clubs and their supporters, but the wider communities in Scarborough and beyond. That’s why it’s great to start the new year on the front foot, and I look forward to seeing the progress over the coming weeks and months.
“We are continuing to work closely with the main contractor, Willmott Dixon, the football clubs and other key stakeholders to ensure that this project maintains this positive momentum and is completed on time, ready for the 2026/27 season.”
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