Flooded football club faces 'horrific disruption'

The River Lyd burst its banks during Storm Bert, flooding Lydney Town AFC's pitch and clubhouse

A football club hit by severe flooding still "faces horrific disruption" three weeks after the Storm Bert.

This weekend, Lydney Town AFC is due to play its first game since 4ft (1.2m) of water swamped the pitch.

While the grounds have now been drained, the clubhouse, which is used by the local food bank, is still out of action.

Goalkeeper Richard Thomas said: "The sobering part of it is it's going to be quite horrific in terms of disruption for us and also financially because it's [repair work] going to cost a lot of money."

"Pretty much every penny we earn is through the bar, so it's a double edged sword," he added.

The club has already spent a lot of money draining the pitch and owners are in negotiations with insurers.

Sofas were floating in resident's front gardens during Storm Bert

The club has also lost a lot of equipment, including line markers and lawnmowers, he added.

Inside the clubhouse, the flooring, bar, and electrics need redoing, as do the pumps that get beer to the bar and water to the showers and taps.

'Sobering'

"It's not just the fact we've got to replace the bar, we'll have to take the bar out of action; it's essentially a pub that's open three days a week so you can imagine the kind of money we're earning is not huge," Mr Thomas added.

Mr Thomas said if things do not go well with their insurance company, the club will have to have a "serious think".

They have decided against a fundraiser "on the basis that there are people worse off than us out there".

"It isn't just us, that's a hub for the local foodbank, which lost a lot of stock, and our skittles team, which is a demographic where it's probably their only social event of the week.

"Our darts teams; it's a real hub for everybody," he added.