FACILITIES at Herne Bay Football Club are to undergo a facelift after they were awarded a grant of more than £85,000 for their Winch's Field ground.

Bay chairman John Bathurst admitted he was both delighted and surprised by the size of the grant, which has come from the Football Stadia Improvement Trust, supporters of the Football Foundation.

Bay have been given a total of £85,548 and Mr Bathurst said: “We as clubs were told that money was being made available at every level of the game and this proves that it is. It’s taken 10 months but we are all absolutely delighted.

“In all our dealings with the Football Stadia people we were told the maximum grant available would be 90 per cent, which is what we’ve got. Realistically we thought we might get 50 per cent so this is beyond our wildest dreams.”

The first job the money will go towards is a perimeter fence on all sides of the ground except that nearest the railway. Bay also plan an extensive refurbishment of the changing rooms which includes upgrading the showers and introducing separate male and female dressing rooms for match officials.

Mr Bathurst says work on the fence could start almost straightaway and he expects everything being completed in time for the start of next season, when Bay will celebrate their 50th anniversary at Winch’s Field.

The club hope to mark the anniversary of the first fixture on August 26 by playing Tunbridge Wells, who were their first opponents, back in 1953