Worksop Town Football Club is facing closure as the fourth oldest team in England (and the world) yesterday issued a statement that they need to raise £30,000 by the end of the month just to survive.

Life President Keith Ilet has been involved with the club since the 1970’s is said to have approached Peter Whitehead who owns the lease at the clubs Sandy Lane Ground to become Chairman as they look to raise the cash to carry on their challenge in the Northern Premier League South East Division for at least the remainder of this campaign.

This is another sad time for another great club and we urge any contributors to get in touch with the clubs Treasurer Mike Lowery on 07931 566 5087 or via email treasurerwtfc@gmail.com or Roger Mills, Secretary and Treasurer of the Worksop Town Supporters Trust on 07590 609029.

Only last week we at Nottingham Sport recently added a fabulous black and white photo of an old Worksop Town team to the archives page of our website (see here) and although we don’t (yet) know the year it was taken (perhaps you could help with that by getting in touch?) just glancing over the immaculately combed hair pieces on show, the dapper dressed men seemingly of membered importance and the fabulous wooden fronted structure in the background of presumably the Pavilion you can tell that this club is a real football club with real history.

Formed in 1861 (a year before Notts County), Wikipedia no less states that the club could well be the fourth oldest surviving team in the world, but survival is what in recent years has been key to Worksop Town Football Club’s status.

I first made my trip to Sandy Lane sitting in the dugout whilst on the Coaching Staff at Grantham Town back in 2012. It was Boxing Day, a local derby clash in the Northern Premier League. Town were going strong throwing big bucks at big players. None bigger than their giant striker (in stature at least) Tom Denton who now currently leads the line for Chesterfield. Denton scored that day in a 3-2 home win along with Leon Mettam and Ash Burberry in what was a cracking game in front of a hostile but festive ‘rough around the edges but harmless in reality’ crowd.

I remember the drive into the ground, the grumpy but lovable old parking attendant not allowing us to park our car in the clubs car park despite being opposition ‘management’. “Stick it over there” he said. I remember the portacabin changing rooms around the back of the stand, basic, cold, wet the sort where you have to lean your bag of footballs on the outside wall because you can’t get all your players and kit in at once.

The distinct yellow roofed stand across the length of the pitch and the newly built brick building in the corner of the ground that would after the game host the players and staff, a post-match pint and a tray of chips before heading back home to Nottingham.

“It’s a real football ground in a real town, a real football club with really passionate locals that attend in numbers to watch their team play and to more than happily chip in just to allow it all to survive.”

The season after I first went (2013/14) Worksop were tipped to go up in the Northern Premier League. They had previously been in the Conference North before, relegated in 2006 (during a previous time of similar uncertainty) and it was the aim again to push for promotion with the side doing well to reach the playoffs. The club were eventually beaten by AFC Fylde in the playoff semi finals and in that following summer news broke out than rather than stay in the Northern Premier League, due to financial difficulties the club would be likely to drop into the Northern Counties East League (two steps down) in order for them to survive.

Since then, it’s been a long road back for Worksop who spent five seasons trying to get back in the Northern Premier League and now a step below where they were in taking the decision to drop out back in 2014, currently in the South East Division sitting 14^th in the table, the club have just made a statement that raises huge concern on their future.

Now knowing football as I do, these things sadly, but regularly happen in the troubles of non-league as outgoings often outweigh the finances that come in, but for the fans, players and staff of these clubs it’s often those that get hurt the most.

If Worksop do survive due to a bailout then great, but it could be that through demise a phoenix could also rise through the ashes as it did in Eastwood and Ilkeston as well as many others for example that have endured financial troubles before.

Troubled times for football clubs who fall from out of nothing when all seems so well on the outside. What really goes off behind closed doors nobody knows until it’s often too late to help.

But for every demise there is often a way out and although the initial hit is hard the long term future is always more important as an end goal and after all, optimists will tell you Tigers are born to survive. In Worksop I hear they’re made tough, even thicker skinned than usual.

And with that survival instinct in bred in to the locals of Bassetlaw, I just hope that one way or another, whether it be through community spirit in the marvellous town or through someone rich enough to put his (or her) cash in where it hurts, that Worksop Town Football Club does survive and not only until the end of the season ahead but for another 160 years on top of the amazing feat it has already achieved.

So yes be prepared to take a hard hit short term, but the people of Worksop have felt this pain before. It might just be that yet again they’ll just have to take it on the chin, grin and bear it before getting up from the knock, dusting things down and carrying on as they do, business as usual in order to survive another day.

*Article provided by Daniel Peacock (Editor).

*Main image @worksoptownfc the clubs Sandy Lane Ground is owned by Peter Whitehead.