MAWNAN Football Club’s strikers won’t be able to complain about not scoring goals in future after the club underwent a major revamp with the purchase of new goalposts.

A grant of £594 was awarded to Mawnan FC towards the £1,188 cost of the new posts thanks to the Premier League and The FA Facilities Fund that provides grants towards developing new or refurbished grassroots football facilities.

The scheme is funded by the Premier League, The FA, and the Government through Sport England and is delivered by the Football Foundation.

The foundation has helped source £1.3bn of investment into the grassroots game.

Andrew Prynn, secretary of Mawnan FC, said: “The old steel goals that were custom-made by former player Neil Thomas stood the club in good stead for several decades, but with health and safety now a major concern within all sports, the club decided to err on the side of caution and obtain modern replacements.”

The club approached the Premier League and The FA Facilities Fund to seek assistance with the project and worked in partnership with the County FA to secure a £594 grant.

“Initial contact was made through Andy Mitchell, the Cornwall FA development manager,” continued Andrew. “Andy was extremely helpful and guided me through the grant process to the Football Foundation.

“Once that was approved we made a successful application for a maximum 50% of the total cost of £1,188 – the maximum amount allowable.

“The timescale from my initial contact with Andy to having the grant approved in full by the Football Foundation was three months, so from my point of view it was an extremely good and efficient process.

“The Football Foundation were excellent to deal with and the grant was vital in enabling us to secure what is a very major purchase for a village club.”

Chief executive of the Football Foundation, Paul Thorogood, said: “I am delighted that a grant from the Premier League and The FA Facilities Fund has enabled Mawnan FC to acquire new goalposts.

“The Football Foundation is delighted to invest into areas where the need is greatest and where it will have an impact on improving community sports facilities across the country.”

The installation costs, however, are not part of the grant but again the club was fortunate in that local plant hire businessman Tim Lugg stepped in and volunteered to carry out the heavy groundwork.

Dedicated committee clubmen assisted with the installation to ensure the bases were securely concreted and met the correct measurements to accommodate the new posts.