The main outside seating area at Penrith Football Club’s Frenchfield Park stadium has been closed to the public after a spectator fell through a suspected water-damaged floor panel.
Just weeks ago, competitive matches kicked off again at the council-owned venue — which is leased by the Blues — after the completion of refurbishment work costing almost £900,000. This included the installation of a 3G (third generation) artificial playing surface, new floodlights and perimeter fencing.
No football could be played at the stadium while improvements were carried out. This meant the Blues’ first team had to play their first 10 league matches of 2023-24 at opponents’ grounds. Home national cup fixtures were generously hosted by other north Cumbria clubs.
Fixtures involving the first team, reserves and ladies’ teams have since kicked off again at Frenchfield Park, along with adult and junior training sessions.
But hopes of clawing back some lost revenue have been dealt a blow after an incident on the day of a ladies’ cup match, on Sunday, 22nd October.
“Unfortunately a gentleman fell through the stand,” the club’s senior chairman, Billy Williams, confirmed. An ambulance was called for the man, who is believed to be the partner of a female player in action on that day.
“We were so fortunate that he hasn’t been seriously hurt because he fell eight to 10ft, down to underneath the stand. He was more shocked, I think, than anything else,” said Mr Williams.
The matter was reported to landlords Westmorland and Furness Council and, amid an ongoing probe by health and safety officials, the outside seating area of the grandstand has been completely cordoned off.
Match day seating is still available inside the clubhouse although the only outside cover available is on a terraced area opposite.
Since the club moved into newly-constructed Frenchfield Park during 2009, club volunteers have battled to put right a series of faults while also overseeing the construction of major grandstand extensions; and forging an improved relationship with Eden Council and, latterly, its unitary successor Westmorland and Furness.
But as he considered the fallout from this latest incident, Mr Williams was all too aware of a detailed Eden Council review which was commissioned and published a decade ago, in December, 2013, amid concerns from a number of councillors about issues affecting the club.
“The seating area has a plywood base and is not waterproof,” the final scrutiny committee report had noted.
Concerns from club officials about “delaminating of the plywood” and four-figure annual repair costs were also highlighted.
“This was pointed out 10 years ago and not addressed,” said Mr Williams. “Over the years we’ve replaced several (floor) panels. It’s such a difficult thing to try and test. This west end of the stand gets all the weather and that’s where this (incident) has happened.
“Whether it’s because we’ve had a long lay-off, it’s been wet and water’s laid on there I don’t know. We go in probably twice weekly to inspect the stand, sweep it out and never noticed anything.
“We’ve had to close the stand down completely now which obviously causes us problems regarding more pressure on us financially. Having to play the first 10 or 12 games away from home has its cost implications and then this coming on top of it makes it a double challenge. How long it’s going to take to rectify the problem, god only knows.
“Just when we thought we were getting out of it, we’re back in it,” he added. “It’s been exciting times at Penrith FC during the last two or three months, and the club as a whole is thriving. The whole system is there for the whole community to enjoy.
“There are 30-odd teams and we’re probably one of the biggest community volunteer services in the Eden Valley, I would have thought, with the number of teams and the people, including parents, that it takes to run them.”
A spokesperson for Westmorland and Furness Council told the Herald: “We have been made aware of an accident that occurred in the stand at Penrith AFC on 22nd October. The council is in contact with the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) over this incident and we have been liaising with Penrith AFC and the HSE to determine the appropriate next steps.
“In the interests of public safety, on Friday (27th October) the HSE served a health and safety prohibition notice to prevent access to the external seating area of the stand, pending the outcome of further enquiries.”
