Who are we?
Blyth Spartans play in the National League North (level 6), we are the most Northerly club in the league, this is the highest level that Spartans have played at since we were established in 1899. We have played at Croft Park, our home, for over a hundred years and celebrate our 125th anniversary next year. Blyth Spartans have a proud history and are synonymous with our FA Cup exploits over the years.
The players and playing staff are all part time. The club is run by largely by volunteers and unpaid club management, with only our "dedicated" groundsman being full time. To maintain the Club at our current level, we, like most non-league clubs operate on a very tight budget, relying primarily on gate receipts, sponsorship and fundraising for income.
Please visit our website for further information on the club at www.blythspartans.com
Why are we crowdfunding?
Unfortunately the geography of the league has the "North" as beginning 18 miles from London, consequently our travelling costs are higher than most other clubs in our league, therefore our budget does not allow for overnight stays. Unusually, we have 3 consecutive away games in Jan/Feb for our longest away trips to Bishops Stortford, Gloucester and Hereford, a total of around 1740 miles in 4 weeks.
Raising funds via this appeal (even for one over night stay) will greatly help the the players and staff, in both preparation and performance, helping to maintain our status in the league, and potentially moving on to the next level. We acknowledge that this will require additional inputs to our budget, we are always reviewing options, but primarily increased gates, additional league revenue, and sponsorship would form a large part of the income.
How we’ll spend the money raised
The cost of an overnight stay will be around £1,500, if you wish to make a donation, please do so on this page. The club realises, that at this time of year, in the prevailing economic conditions, and the many geopolitical tragedies happening around the world, that times are difficult, and that your priorities may rightfully lay elsewhere. This understandable, so any contributions that you can make will be greatly appreciated.
To further help the finances, Club management will pay all their own expenses. Any contributors, (if they don’t wish to remain anonymous), will have names readout during our match commentary and personally named in a thankyou from the Club on our website and social media platforms.
Manager, Graham Fenton added.
“As I’m sure everyone is aware, the travelling in the National League North is difficult to deal with at times for a lot of clubs and we are no exception.
Whilst we endeavor to finish in as high a league position as possible, we feel that travelling down on the Friday afternoon and having overnight stays, would be of huge benefit to the teams pre match preparations. If any individuals or businesses could contribute in any way, it would be extremely appreciated by the players and staff alike”.
Many thanks in advance to those who can help out in any way.
Best regards, Fents.
Community impact
Blyth Spartans recognises the importance of two way community interaction in many areas of the community. To this end the Club is involved with Schools hosting HAF events (Holiday Activity and Food). Where Blyth Spartans had 40 places available per day, during school holidays for children on benefits related free school meals, football and other sports activities were delivered along with hot meals all free of charge. We also promote health and interaction via walking football for over 40's and refugees from our local community. We support the "If U Care Share Foundation" in promoting suicide prevention and mental wellbeing. The "Green Army" volunteers run regular food bank collections in our clubhouse on match days.
We have an associated, well run, successful junior section with around 550 young players. Alternating teams form a guard of honor on the pitch and help raise funds for their teams with collections on match days.
We use our sponsors room on week ends to run basic machine code programming as a extra curricular activity free of charge. This is well attended by children and parents alike. This is delivered by our Chairman, Tony Plattten who also promotes a runs the STEM initiative in the town.
We promote football competitions between local schools on our 3G training pitch, for regional and national competitions including, The National League Trust U11's, as well as hosting school sports days on the main pitch
As part of a wider community historical awareness initiative, we have worked with a local playwright Ed Waugh and local theatres in promoting the play, "Wor Bella" a history of Bella Reay, a famous female free scoring footballer from WW1, playing for Blyth Spartans and winning The Munitionettes Cup, and in the process raising funds for bereaved families in the local area.
This year we were proudly awarded "The Inclusion Club of the Year" by Northumberland F.A.
How you can play your part
There are four simple ways to help us reach our target, and make this project a reality.
1. Make a pledge. Don’t delay if you’re going to support us because momentum is key to our success!
2. Spread the word. Share our project on your social media pages and tell the world to get behind us! The more people we reach, the more support we will get.
3. Offer rewards. Get involved if you are a local business by donating things we can offer to our supporters. We will give you a shout out!
4. Fundraise for us. If you want to run your own fundraiser – maybe a sponsored activity or similar – use the 'contact project' button at the top of our page to let us know. Setting up your own page only takes a few minutes and you won’t need any bank details. Just a fun idea!