Clubhouse ravaged by huge blaze

By Jon Couch

DESTROYED: Damage to the Tunbridge Wells clubhouse

TUNBRIDGE WELLS are counting the cost of a serious fire which tore through their Culverden Stadium clubhouse on Thursday night.

The blaze broke out in the clubhouse at around 9pm and completely destroyed the clubhouse roof before firefighters eventually brought it under control at around midnight.

It has not been confirmed what caused the fire but it’s thought to be an electrical fault. Nobody was hurt.

As a result, the Southern Counties East League side have been forced to postpone Tuesday night’s fixture with Erith & Belvedere.

A club statement read: “This is a dark day, in a dark week for all those associated with Tunbridge

Wells FC. Inspection of the clubhouse by board members in attendance revealed a scene of almost complete destruction.

“It was immediately evident that the clubhouse would be unusable for the foreseeable future. The club is working to understand the extent of any recoverable losses.

“The club is incredibly grateful for the kind offers of support and assistance from across the football family and the wider community. We will need that support over the coming days, weeks and months. The club will be putting in place fund raising measures, details of which will be communicated in due course.”