Croydon FC fear games will be cancelled due to broken floodlights

By Tara O’Connor, Local Democracy Reporter

Croydon FC fears that games could be called off if floodlights are not fixed.

The club says it is now at “crisis point” and is begging the company that manages Croydon Sports Arena to replace the bulbs.

At the moment the lights behind the goals are working, but bulbs covering the pitch are out – leaving a corner of it in darkness.

Club historian Stephen Tyler said: “It is now reaching crisis point and there seems to be no interest in actually rectifying the problems.”

Mr Tyler says he first complained about the issue back in July to GLL which runs the pitch but claims it was an issue before the pandemic when the facility was managed by Croydon council.

Now it is winter, the lights are needed for all midweek and Saturday home games.

Mr Tyler added: “The management company appears to be an administrative nightmare, a request apparently had to be made for the work to be done and they claim that this was granted. 

“We are now a few more weeks down the line and still nothing. The situation is going to come to a head when a referee either refuses to start or abandons a fixture because of inadequate floodlighting on health and safety grounds.”

A spokesperson from GLL said that the pitch is safe.

They said: “We apologize to Croydon FC for any inconvenience caused by lower than normal light levels affecting a part of the pitch.

“While the pitch is safe and playable (and the athletics track unaffected) we are concerned if the experience has been less than ideal.

 “We’ve explained to the club that the problem has been in sourcing new lamps – which we hope will be rectified soon.”