DOZENS of grassroots football clubs across the region could fold within months due to the impact of the coronavirus pandemic, a new report reveals.

Former Liverpool and England goalkeeper David James today launches a campaign to support struggling sides, backed by research which found 4,000 UK football clubs fear they will close in 2021.

He is the ambassador for energy firm Utilita’s year-long Switch Before Pitch campaign, to help amateur clubs, players and communities save money by cutting energy waste.

A passionate environmentalist, he said: “The Prime Minister Boris Johnson said only this week that ‘sports clubs are the life and soul of our communities’ – and he is right.

“Grassroots football clubs play such an important role and everything that can be done to support their existence right now, should be done.”

Willington Youth FC, in County Durham, came close to calling full time this summer when its finances were almost wiped out because of the virus.

At one point the club had just £100 in the bank, after a business they paid for facility hire went into administration due to Covid 19 and creditors called in outstanding fees.

This was compounded by the loss of subs and funds from its annual tournament – which usually brings in about 80 per cent of its annual income.

Club welfare officer Richard Manuel said: “A school, Parkside Academy, came to our rescue with a few weeks grace on paying to train there.

“If they hadn’t we’d have been really struggling to keep going, I know of about ten teams that have folded.

“It has been absolute chaos and we’ve just got subs starting to come in again, but the club and all ten of our teams from Under 8 to Under 16 are having to do fundraising.

“I’ve now filled in 30 applications for funding, we’ve secured a small amount and had some good support from two Durham County Councillors.”

Mr Manuel is looking up, at the Football Association and professional clubs, for more support for the grassroots game.

“The FA needs to improve grassroots football big-style, the FA has a lot to do and I hear about the Premier League and big clubs having their problems.

“The only club we’ve ever got a shirt out of was Sunderland, and Hartlepool a while back, really it wouldn’t cost clubs much to take a few shirts or balls from a production line and ask players to sign them to let clubs raffle them.

“If the big ones don’t look after grassroots and youth teams where are they going to get their players from?” he said.

The financial bite of Covid 19 is also being felt by the town’s Northern League side.

Willington AFC’s home derby against Crook was one of the first games cancelled due to the virus restrictions back in March.

Committee member Richard Bloomfield said: “We usually get around 120 fans but expected about 350 for that game. We’d stocked the bar with food and drink and were hoping to make decent money on the turnstiles.

“After it was called off the food was donated, the drink practically given away and I put 80 programmes in the shredder.

“It didn’t cost a fortune but clubs at this level have very limited income anyway, they are really the hobby of a few individuals, one or two put money in, they get sponsorship and need turnover from games.

“With limits on crowds, restrictions on what they can do in the clubhouses, a lack of confidence from sponsors the already limited income is reduced further – yet the bills keep coming.

“The Government needs to help, the financial help for jobs is laudable but it continues to help the same people.

“These clubs keep communities alive, it gives them something to focus on.

“There are less and less facilities and youth clubs in communities, so football clubs act as meeting places for people who may not meet up otherwise, the junior teams are important for young people and give youngsters something to aspire to.

“Football is important for social, physical and mental wellbeing.

“If football clubs are lost, communities are fragmented.”

The Utilita-commissioned State of Play report reiterates the benefits the UK’s 40,000 plus grassroots clubs have on mental and physical health and say the cost to society would be high, should thousands disappear.

It states that Covid 19 has seen clubs’ incomes reduce by 46 per cent on average, with one in ten clubs losing 90 to 100 per cent of their income, and parents’ financial struggles will prevent many youth players returning to clubs.

David James added: “This campaign will help clubs focus on saving and raising money, but most importantly, it will educate everyone it reaches about the simple ways we can all use less energy wherever we are, which will impact our pockets, and most importantly, our planet.

“Using tangible examples of what saving energy can buy, such as bibs, or a pair of new goals, is smart – poor or missing equipment can mean the difference between a game being played or not at grassroots level, so affording everything a team needs is crucial.”

The campaign also calls on local authorities and football organisations to support the grassroots game.

Clubs are invited to share their fundraising efforts and ideas on social media using the hashtag #switchbeforepitch, to be entered into a club league table to win equipment, kits and other goodies.

For details visit utilita.co.uk/switch-before-pitch