Green Light - Radford FC Floodlight Fund

Aim

Replacement of floodlights to save energy, maintain and enhance our football offer to fans and the community. #GreenLightRaddy

Who are we? 

The Pride of Nott'num

Radford FC was formed as a factory side for local engineering firm Manlove & Alliots in 1964 and has remained located in the heart of Nottingham's inner city ever since, providing grassroots semi-pro football for the local communities of Hyson Green and Radford. We are a traditional football club, run on the passion and dedication of club members, supporters and volunteers without the benefit of deep pockets or wealthy benefactors. Our Chair and Vice-Chair played as apprentices in the first ever game as the factory side and have been involved ever since - Radford FC is more than just a football club, it is about the commitment of all those who understand its special appeal and bleed claret and blue for the mighty Pheasants.

Rooted in our past but ambitious for the future, we are proud to be from "The Green", a severely disadvantaged area of the city but with a wonderful multi-cultural vibrancy - an excellent setting for a proper grassroots football club. Radford FC moved to Selhurst Street during the height of the inner-city riots of the early 80s, developing the current ground on the site of former terraced slums.

The can-do spirit of the Raddy faithful is exemplified by our famous old floodlights - the focus of this campaign. The six stantions were originally located at the steel works in Montrose, Scotland and acquired by the club as part of the ground set up in the early 80s. Armed with a flat bed truck, a group of engineers (remember our roots) and boundless devotion to the cause, the club transported the structures back to Nottingham and erected with success where they remain to this day - a unique feature of our clubs heritage. 

Why are we crowdfunding? 

Building a Bright Future for Football Down the Green

The realities of delivering step 6 football requires continual maintenance and much needed investment especially if we are to meet our ambitions of playing at a higher level, expanding our first team, youth and potential women's teams and providing a top class facility for the community. As an FA affiliated unincorporated association we are not cash rich but we are blessed to have the support of loyal members, supporters and sponsors. This bedrock of support made sure we weathered the traumatic impact of COVID-19 and came out of lockdown even stronger, enjoying a magnificent season and only missing out on promotion following heroic defeat in the play-offs.

However, our need to replace the floodlights is pressing and the focus of this campaign. Our trusty old floodlights have been illuminating many Radford games down the years but they are reaching the end of their life with bulbs expensive to replace, low outdated quality and not cost effective financially or environmentally. We are not looking to replace the historic stantions - they are part of our identity - but new, modern LED lights will bring a new lease of life to Raddy games under the night skies and also allow us to better utilise the pitch on non-matchdays. 

Without urgent replacement, our ability to meet league standards and compete at our current level could be seriously threatened. We need the new floodlights installed before next season and any additional funding will be used to further enhance the playing surface and facilities. 

The committee are not sitting on our laurels and are taking action. We are applying for 70% capital funding from the FA Premier League Stadium Fund and we've already engaged suppliers for quotes. 

But WE NEED YOU to help us with match funding and maintain our unique football club in the heart of The Green. #raddyneedsyou #GreenLightRaddy #ForzaRadderati

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How we’ll spend the money raised

The focus of our campaign is to help us raise the much needed match funding to meet our goal of urgently installing new modern floodlights. Your donation will go directly to making this goal a reality. The estimate for the work is between £30-32k and we need to find 30% to drawdown capital funding from the FA. 

Working with Sport England we hope to match any crowdfund donations with funding from their programmes. We are therefore aiming to raise a minimum of £5000 through the Green Light - Radford FC Floodlight Fund.

If successful and we exceed our target, any extra funds will be put towards much needed pitch and ground improvements during the Summer, preparing the club for the next level, enhancing our ability to raise revenue through our facilities, encouraging the development of youth and potential women's teams and making the matchday experience even better for our loyal supporters and visitors.

Community impact

Radford FC is much more than just a football club, it has been a feature of the inner city communities of Hyson Green and Radford since the late 70s. The local area has many challenges and we know we have a role to play in giving local people both entertaining football and a facility they can hire and use. 

We reach out to local people and students across the city to offer playing opportunities as well a great value, traditional matchday experience. A vital part of our club is our engagement with local businesses and trades who have often been connected to the club since childhood and feel an affinity with the area and the club and want to give back. We know they will answer this call but we are also keen to get more local people and businesses engaged. 

Moving forward we have a clear focus on attracting our dynamic student community to follow the Raddy - their club away from home. This will help social cohesion with the local communities, build a sense of belonging and promote graduate retention for the economic benefit of the city. 

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. Find out more by contacting the club or come down for the next home game. #GreenLightRaddy

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 and offer full sponsorship opportunities for next season and beyond.

4. If you want to run your own fundraiser to support us, 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. We love to have fun and you can even use our clubhouse!

5. Come to a match! Enjoy the unique atmosphere down the Green, buzz the QR code, have a pint and a cob and become part of the Raddy faithful. We will be double fundraising on Non-League Day 2023 on Saturday 25th March by supporting Prostate Cancer UK.  

UP THE PHEASANTS!

#GreenLightRaddy

This project successfully funded on 4th April 2023