FOOTBALLERS are set to benefit from "vital" funding that will help their club prepare a top-class playing surface.

Wivenhoe Town, who have a senior men's team and thriving youth set-up, have been awarded a £1,500 Pitch Preparation Fund grant from the Premier League, the FA and the government’s Football Foundation.

The fund was set up to help clubs facing unprecedented challenges because of the coronavirus outbreak.

Grants are being made to sides that have lost out on normal revenue streams and Wivenhoe will use theirs to carry out important work on the Blackstone Stadium pitch, in Broad Lane.

Chairman Mo Osman said: “Over the last few years, our pitch has gradually improved thanks to hard work raising funds to allow us to carry out essential works.

"However, the current difficult situation means we've lost vital revenue streams that would have contributed to the costs of pitch preparation.

"This Football Foundation grant is therefore so welcome and so vital in ensuring we can continue to maintain and improve our playing surface, to make sure it's looking its best ready for when it’s safe for football to return."

The funding will enable Wivenhoe, whose senior team play in the Thurlow Nunn Eastern Counties League, to prepare their pitches so that they are match-fit for when it is safe to play football again, following government advice.

They can use their grant to help pay for the cost of materials, work such as verti-draining, chain harrowing, rolling, over-seeding, fertilising weed-killing and routine work such as grass cutting and the setting out and line-marking of pitches.

Robert Sullivan, interim chief executive of the Football Foundation, said: “This is a vital grant to help Wivenhoe get their pitches match-fit.

“The Premier League, the FA and the government’s Football Foundation exists to help provide quality infrastructure at the lower levels of the game.

"Pitch Preparation Fund grants like this one are giving a helping hand to clubs across the country to get their playing surfaces ready for when the game is allowed to begin again, following government advice.”

The Football Foundation is a charity funded by the Premier League, the FA and the government, through Sport England.