SOARING EAGLES IN APPEAL TO BROADEN
STOTFOLD FC are on a volunteer recruitment drive to expand their operation after unexpected back-to-back promotions. Formed in 1946, the Bedfordshire club finished second in the Spartan South Midlands Football League last season – their first year in the division – and then won the play-offs to reach the Pitching In Southern League Division One Central.
The Eagles are now holding their own in their first season at Step 4 and have subsequently launched an appeal to acquire further helping hands in an effort to ensure they go from strength to strength on and off the pitch, making use of the Pitching In Volunteer Hub – which allows prospective volunteers to enter their postcode and find opportunities near them.
At the head of this development project is club secretary Julie Longhurst, who has been involved with Stotfold FC for around 60 years.
She said: “Whilst we’ve got a very good band of people, we run various teams across the club and we just need to expand our help across all areas.
“There are more demands obviously in the Southern League than there were previously.
“We’ve already got a set number of people, but we could do with more.”
The call is for a wide range of roles including turnstile operators, matchday stewards and many others.
Since moving into a fresh facility in the form of New Roker Park in February 2020, the Eagles’ community impact has taken flight.
This new ground’s effect on the local area – which consists of a 9,000-strong population – can be seen in the several sides it today has in tow.
To take one example, the club’s junior section alone now oversees 600 children with its women’s, development, and Under-18s floodlit outfits also proving extremely popular.
Julie added: “We’re looking to grow the club and you need a lot of people, don’t you? “We moved in February 2020 and promptly got closed down due to Covid-19, so we had an interesting start to proceedings. “However, since we’ve been in our new facility, things have really expanded. It’s been a short sharp growth, I think we can safely say.
“We’re quite a friendly club, and we would be happy for anyone to come down and help out.”
Find volunteering opportunities at your local club by visiting https://pitchinginvolunteers.co.uk/