Chairman of flood-hit Tadcaster Albion sends SOS to the Premier League

Tadcaster Albions home is still under water after the River Wharfe burst its banks and flooded the Global Stadium. Picture: John Clothier

The Brewers’ future has been plunged into doubt after Storm Ciara wreaked havoc at their ground, leaving them with an estimated £42,000 repair bill.

The Bet Victor Northern Premier North West Division outfit set up a JustGiving Page in order to help raise much-needed funds, and while Charlesworth is grateful for donations that the club has received as a result of that appeal, he feels that the teams operating at the top of the English footballing pyramid could step in to help.

“We’re really pleased with the response, we’ve had” he said.

“Loads of people in the football community have helped us and we’ve had donations from all over the world, but what would be really nice is if some Premier League clubs could help us out.

“The top end of the game is so cash-rich that a week’s wage for a lot of Premier League players would be more than enough to cover the cost of all of our repairs. I don’t think they would even miss that money.

“We are at the bottom end of the food chain, scrimping and saving to try and get by and basically putting sticking plasters over the huge problems we have to contend with.

“What’s happened here has been devastating.”

Albion are due to meet with the Football Foundation and the West Riding County FA later this week to discuss plans that could potentially see a new two-tier clubhouse built at the Global Stadium, which would essentially be flood-proof.

The club's existing clubhouse is currently under water, as is their pitch, but Brewers officials expect to be able to begin what will be a mammoth clean-up operation on Friday afternoon.

Anyone who wishes to help with the cleaning is welcome to do so and should report to Taddy's Ings Lane base at 1pm.