Poole Town chairman Chris Reeves is praying for a big gate and no rain on Saturday to ease the pressure on the BetVictor Southern League club's finances.
The Dolphins chairman is calling on fans to turn out in numbers for the visit of Taunton Town to the Black and Gold Stadium after suffering yet another postponed game in November, Tuesday night's Beaconsfield Town clash.
The game was called off with standing water on the pitch after the postponement of the Met Police's visit at the start of the month and Merthyr two weeks ago following travel chaos on the motorways from south Wales.
Despite the blows, Tom Killick's Dolphins still sit sixth in the table and just 11 points behind leaders Chesham united with five games in hand.
Reeves told fans in a statement on Thursday: “We pray for good weather so that the match day revenue we bank on keeps coming in, so that we can continue to pay our way. Then what happens!? All these successive home games called off, all this relentless torrential rain! Please God we have a game on Saturday!
“My earnest hope is that this message is spread by Social Media, the Daily Echo and our great local radio stations so that all in Poole that hold the club dear, turn out in force against Taunton and give us a real boost to our depleted coffers.
“If ever the club needed its supporters to show their support it is now. We have spent money on a new drainage pump which even as these notes are penned is churning huge amounts of water away from our soaked ground into surface water drains.
“Our hard-working groundsman Chris Kelly is doing all he can in our cause. We need the support of the community we serve now, more than ever.”
?A statement echoing the thoughts of Chris Reeves following today's postponement and the financial implications for the club.
We would like to encourage as many fans as possible to Saturday's fixture with @TauntonTownFC should it be on. #COYD?
— Poole Town FC ? (@PooleTownFC) November 26, 2019
Reeves rallied fans after calling the amount of revenue they'd lost in recent weeks “concerning” in an earlier statement immediately after the Waders clash was called off.
“Inevitably, having not had a home game in over a month, with multiple games postponed, the financial implications are taking on increased effect,” admitted the chairman.
“Unprecedented and unwelcome weather is consistently contributing to a concerning amount of lost revenue with most fixtures being moved to Tuesday evenings later on in the season.
“With the forecast looking promising at the end of the week, we are hopeful of the Taunton fixture going ahead on Saturday.
“We wholly understand the frustration of supporters at the moment and not being able to see the side in action, however, we would like to encourage as many supporters down to the Black Gold on Saturday afternoon.
“With a bolstered attendance and hopefully a key victory, we would hope that Saturday's fixture could provide the boost that the club need to kick on, on and off the pitch.
“We would like to thank all supporters of this great football club for sticking with us at this difficult time and hope to see you on Saturday.”
Image courtesy of pooletownfc.co.uk
