Basford cash boost

Basford have received a cash injection to convert another two courts to artificial grass which will complete the club's ambitious £93,500 project started only two years ago.

What began as a dream has now matured into reality with Basford hailed as the first and only North Staffordshire club to offer the coveted surface.

An unexpected £20,000 windfall from the government-backed Foundation for Sport and the Arts has given the committee the green light to relay the new all weather hard courts with artificial grass. Work will begin almost immediately.

Cheap option

Club treasurer Hugh Padley spearheaded the campaign to secure grants and loans to convert the original two courts an install extra floodlighting. The club had hoped to resurface the remaining pair shortly afterwards but ran out of cash after using their own funds and exhausting grants from the Sports Council and Newcastle Borough council.

They feared their plea to the government foundation had failed so went ahead with a cheaper option. The eleventh hour £20,000 grant now means they can finish the job in style.

Club spokesman Derek Newport said membership had nearly doubled in three years: "The new courts and floodlights are largely responsible. We believe our forward thinking has given Basford more credibility and I suppose we could be held up as a model club for the area.

He added: "We have been told that the reason we got this latest grant from the foundation was because they valued what the club was doing for tennis."

Evening Sentinel, 17 May 1993
Courtesy of The Sentinel News & Media