NEWCASTLE UNITED boss Alan Pardew says community spirit ultimately won Blyth Town the £100,000 Budweiser Club Futures programme Super Grant.
The Club Futures ambassador presented the Northern Alliance Premier Division club with their winner's cheque on Thursday and was delighted to see the grant go to a North East side.
Speaking to The Non-League Paper, he said: “Being at Blyth Town – a club local to me as Newcastle manager – and crowning them as winners is the cherry on the cake of what's been a hugely successful programme.
“For me, it's about giving something back to the area and about everybody coming together in support of football.”
Blyth had already banked £50,000 after being selected as one of eight grassroots clubs to receive a grant to aid their development and influence within the local community.
Those eight clubs then fought it out for the six-figure grant in a poll on FA Cup sponsor Budweiser's facebook page, with Blyth emerging clear winners by securing 38 per cent of the votes.
Pardew, who takes his Newcastle side to Benfica for a Europa League quarter final first-leg tie on Thursday, ascribes Blyth's victory to the passion the people in the area have for football.
“The main reason they won is that they got the town involved, it wasn't just the football club. The whole town voted and that was the secret of their success,” he said.
“That's what football clubs should do, represent the community. Blyth have done that in an outstanding fashion.”
Pardew knows a thing or two about the grassroots game, having spent the first seven years of his playing career at Whyteleafe, Epsom & Ewell, Corinthian Casuals, Dulwich Hamlet and Yeovil Town.
So he's fully aware of just how important the grant will be to Blyth, who will use the money to extend their clubhouse and resurface their Multi Use Games Area.
“£150K is going to go a long way to improving and developing this club and all the great work they do with the young players,” he said.
“I spent a long time playing Non-League and have some great memories of doing so. I know what it's like playing outside the professional ranks and appreciate the dedication needed at a club at this level. Many of the people here work for free so a grant like this is huge for them.”
These sentiments were echoed by Blyth Town chairman Sandra Orr, who commented: “Winning the £100K is not only another huge financial boost for us, but the whole process has brought the club, the town and region together, in a massive team effort.
“We can't wait to resurface and extend our floodlit training area. Not having to hire training facilities will make a huge saving for us. And not only will we benefit from being able to train on site, we will also generate income from rental.
“The new 3G training area and extended community room, to be built using our £50,000 grant, means our facilities can be used virtually all year round by the local community, which is the essence and aim of this great programme from Budweiser and The FA.”
Newcastle's current first-team squad includes local lads Steven Taylor and Adam Campbell, both of whom arrived at St James' Park from illustrious Tyneside-based youth set up Wallsend Boys Club.
And while Pardew isn't expecting the next Peter Beardsley or Alan Shearer – also graduates of Wallsend – to come directly from the Blyth Town ranks, his network of scouts will be keeping their eyes peeled for potential stars of the future.
“We've got a kid from Blyth on our books at the moment – 15-year-old Liam Bell, who joined us from Blyth Spartans.
“It just goes to show that that kind of move can happen. As a club we're always monitoring youngsters playing for local teams.
“This extra funding for Blyth will make facilities that much better and hopefully improve their young players technically, to a level where maybe they could even play for us one day.”
Budweiser Club Futures will be giving away a further £500,000 in grants to grassroots clubs next season and Pardew hopes to be involved again.
“I'm not certain whether I'll be continuing as ambassador for the programme's second year but I've thoroughly enjoyed it this time around so I'd love to,” he said.
One thing that is for certain is that the Club Futures is providing a much-needed cash injection to the grassroots game and they'll be another nine clubs benefitting from the programme this time next season.
Want to see more of Alan Pardew's visit to Blyth Town? Check out the video below, courtesy of markettiers4dc.
