Constant rain wreaks havoc for non-league teams

Just one home fixture has been played at a non-league football club's home ground this season due to constant rainfall waterlogging the pitch.

Wolverhampton Casuals vice chairman Paul Tudor said he had been involved with the North West Counties side for 35 years and has never before experienced 11 home games being cancelled in a season.

Matches have been cancelled across all football leagues, including FA Cup matches and EFL games. The deluge the country has experienced has been put down to a blocked weather pattern which prevented the wet weather from moving away.

But the effect on the non-league clubs teams, who need match revenue to survive, could be severe. The money is needed to keep the lights on.

When Wolves visited Grimsby in the FA Cup this weekend, the Blundell Park quagmire produced what the BBC's match report called "fascinating scenes reminiscent of a bygone era".

Many saw the funny side as the ball bobbled unpredictably across the sodden surface and players slid through the mud.

But further down the football pyramid, it was no laughing matter.

"We need constant revenue coming into the club to pay the bills," Tudor said.

"We're not getting that revenue through."

The club boss was talking to contractors about drainage options for the Brinsford Lane pitch, with quotes coming in at around £70,000 to £80,000.

He was hopeful the Premier League Stadium Fund, a scheme which helps clubs improve their stadiums, could cover up to 70% of the cost, but finding the remaining 30% remained a challenge.

In Halesowen, AFC Birmingham play in the Midland Football League Division Three. At least they try to.

Owner and chairman John Baker said his ground had seen 10 to 12 games called off. The rearranged games would have to be crammed into an already congested schedule.

"You physically can't get on [the pitch] with your machines to do any work," he told the BBC.

A drainage system was installed three years ago but Baker said it made little difference against such relentless downpours.

"You're never going to beat torrential rain on a consistent basis," he added.

According to the Met Office, climate change could be putting football at risk, with about a third of grassroots pitches already losing six weeks to two months of the season to flooding caused by severe weather.

Since 2023, £47.5m worth funding has been made available to help sports clubs become more sustainable and adapt to climate-driven disruption.

But in October, Chris Boardman, the chair of Sport England said lower-level sport needed to adapt.

"We know that 120,000 grassroots football matches were called off last year, simply because of flooded pitches," he said.

"This problem is real and our problem is our own adaptability."

But back in Wolverhampton, Tudor was unsure whether this season was a one-off "freak" or a sign of things to come.

The club saw a relatively dry winter last year and were only unable to play one home game.

When asked if more seasons like this one represented a threat to the club, he responded: "If it continued it may well be.

"We now need to be planning for this kind of event where we are missing [multiple games].

"We are looking at the funding."

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