Historic cricket club under threat without funding

Player Usmaan Akram said he has added £1,500 of his own money to the fundraising pot

One of the UK's oldest cricket clubs is using its 150th anniversary to launch a campaign to raise £150,000 to secure its future.

White Coppice Cricket Club, near Chorley in Lancashire, was founded in 1875 by mill owner, Alfred Ephraim Eccles for his workers to play the game.

The club, which is run by the players, said it had recently been hit with a £29,000 bill to repair a leaking septic tank and they also wanted to install proper training facilities to help attract new players and introduce a junior division.

Club chairman, Paul Dobson, said: "We were looking at potentially having to fold the club if we couldn't get the support that we need."

Club chairman, Paul Dobson, said the club could fold if it could not raise the funds

The 63-year-old said: "£29,000 is double the assets of the club at present and it's vital therefore that we try and raise as much as we can from other sources."

White Coppice earned the nickname "the club that wouldn't die" when they survived the 2017 season despite only having the minimum seven players in one match.

The ground was also the setting for the 1994 TV show Sloggers, which was written by famous darts commentator Sid Waddell and launched the TV career of actor Ralf Little.

This year the club has entered two Saturday teams in the Palace Shield Cricket League.

1st XI captain Jake Smalley said: "We survive on £10 match fees from the players so £29k is the equivalent of 2,900 match fees.

"Last year we spent £4,000 on lawnmower repairs alone and cricket balls cost us nearly £1,000 every season.

"A lot of cricket clubs have gone under and we won't let White Coppice go the same way."

He said the club hoped to raise the £150,000 through a mixture of grants, donations and player fundraising.

The club's longest-serving player, Chris Maguire, said: "When we beat Vernon Carus in 2018 it was our first win in 658 days.

"It's about so much more than just cricket and £150,000 will safeguard the club's future for generations to come."

Player Usmaan Akram said he had added £1,500 of his own money to the fundraising pot.

"I think if you want something you lead by example," he said.

"We've come a long way and together with everybody's support, we can do this."