Post by Dave on Jan 29, 2010 11:14:54 GMT
Newton Abbot Spurs has been talked about on the TFF many times before and it’s a club I grew up with as a child and not only was I the mascot (see picture below)
But many of my family were also involved with the club and even provided all the food and refreshments, in those days mind you the pitch was the other away around, the cricket pitch was further away as there was no car park at the end of the cricket pitch as there is now and have been for many years.
The club needed to have floodlights installed in their ground, not to sure just why but others will know, but I believe it was a requirement for the league they play in.
The project was co-funded by the FA and the total cost was £44.000, but its very first game under the floodlights on Wednesday night was in danger of not going ahead and over 200 people had turned up to watch the game, but after over 45 minutes with no action most went home reducing the number to just 50. Spurs felt they could not charge then to watch the match should it ever get started and it turned out to be a costly night for the club.
So what was the problem? Well when they went to switch on the lights they found the fuse box had all the fuses removed and had been padlocked so it could not be opened, the club claim the electrician had done it because there was still an outstanding figure of £3.800 to be paid, the club also claim the FA had instructed them not to hand over the final payment until the electrician had handed over all the relevant paperwork.
The electrician states that the job had not been signed off and his actions were taken in accordance with the health and safety laws and he was required to put the padlock on and prevent them from being used.
Club chairman Martin Small dashed to the nearby B&Q store and retuned with an hacksaw and sawed off the padlock and another electrician was found to come and install some new fuses and the game was then able to go ahead only much later that it was meant to start.
The original electrician claims he did not break the law but the club did by switching on the lights, the club had contacted the FA, their league, landlords, the Rec and also the local council who were all happy for the game to go ahead. You could not make up such a story could you?
But many of my family were also involved with the club and even provided all the food and refreshments, in those days mind you the pitch was the other away around, the cricket pitch was further away as there was no car park at the end of the cricket pitch as there is now and have been for many years.
The club needed to have floodlights installed in their ground, not to sure just why but others will know, but I believe it was a requirement for the league they play in.
The project was co-funded by the FA and the total cost was £44.000, but its very first game under the floodlights on Wednesday night was in danger of not going ahead and over 200 people had turned up to watch the game, but after over 45 minutes with no action most went home reducing the number to just 50. Spurs felt they could not charge then to watch the match should it ever get started and it turned out to be a costly night for the club.
So what was the problem? Well when they went to switch on the lights they found the fuse box had all the fuses removed and had been padlocked so it could not be opened, the club claim the electrician had done it because there was still an outstanding figure of £3.800 to be paid, the club also claim the FA had instructed them not to hand over the final payment until the electrician had handed over all the relevant paperwork.
The electrician states that the job had not been signed off and his actions were taken in accordance with the health and safety laws and he was required to put the padlock on and prevent them from being used.
Club chairman Martin Small dashed to the nearby B&Q store and retuned with an hacksaw and sawed off the padlock and another electrician was found to come and install some new fuses and the game was then able to go ahead only much later that it was meant to start.
The original electrician claims he did not break the law but the club did by switching on the lights, the club had contacted the FA, their league, landlords, the Rec and also the local council who were all happy for the game to go ahead. You could not make up such a story could you?