Cricket ground budget shortfall bail out

Guildford Sports Ground is home to Guildford Cricket Club

A sports ground in Surrey is set to get a £114,000 hand out to keep it afloat after the site racked up a big budget shortfall.

Guildford Sports Ground – home to Guildford Cricket Club and second home to Surrey County Cricket Club – was hit by major staffing problems in 2024/25, leaving the management company in the red.

As the ground is run as a charity, Guildford Borough Council has agreed to step in and cover the gap.

But councillors insist residents will now get clearer oversight into how the venue is run.

Alongside plugging last year's hole, councillors have also signed off on a three-year business plan.

That means topping up the ground's budget with a further £80,687 in 2025/26 and £20,572 in 2026/27.

Without this, officers warned, the charity could fail, leaving taxpayers to foot the bill while the council runs the site directly without the specialist know-how of its cricketing partners.

Pedro Wrobel, the council's chief executive, backed the move, recognising that the problems stemmed from decisions made before the current executive was in place, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

He told the meeting: "What you are doing here is getting a firm grip and putting it in a position where you are able to improve the value for money the organisation is getting."

The Pavilion was refurbished in 2018 and reopened the following year, with the idea that hosting events and matches would help cover running costs.

The council's executive will make a decision on the extra funding in the coming weeks.