Needham Market versus Dartford: Ipswich Town stewards, special programme and extra pitch work as Suffolk club prepares for its biggest ever game in FA Trophy
Anticipation is building ahead of the biggest game in Needham Market’s history.
The club host Vanarama National League South side Dartford in the fifth round proper – the last 16 – of the Buildbase FA Trophy on Saturday (3pm).
With the Suffolk side just three wins away from a potential final at Wembley, interest in the tie is growing by the day.
And while all eyes will focus on events on the Bloomfields pitch come kick-off, preparations have been going on behind-the-scenes since the draw was made.
Needham pulled off a major upset when they went to Yeovil Town in the previous round and knocked out the club who were playing in the Football League Championship as recently as the 2013/14 season.
Their victory 8-7 on penalties following a 1-1 draw was the second successive round that Needham, who play at Step 3 in the Southern League Premier Central Division, had defeated a Vanarama National League side.
For volunteers like Dave Clarke, the club’s commercial manager, it has been all systems go as the village side prepare for the tie.
The 67-year-old, who took on the role five years ago, said: “Sales of club merchandise – scarves, bobble hats and beanie hats – have more than trebled since we won the last round.
“The response to the match itself from our current sponsors has been phenomenal. When I started going round to local businesses they already knew about the match.
“The Windscreen Company, our main sponsors, jumped at the chance to sponsor the match, while the business community in Needham Market have rallied round and are taking adverts in the match programme.
“When I went to see Hadleigh Tyres, who are one of our sponsors, they told me that six of their staff are finishing work early on the Saturday so that they can come to the game.
“We have had people coming into the ground asking where they can get tickets from for the game, and that’s something we have never experienced before.
“We have kept admission prices the same as for a league game as we wanted to reward our loyal supporters.”
Dartford are expected to bring between 200 and 300 spectators, but Clarke is wary of making any prediction as to the size of the attendance at Bloomfields on Saturday.
The ground capacity is 2,000, with the record attendance the 1,748 who watched the FA Cup Fourth Qualifying Round tie versus Cambridge United on October 26th 2013.
Clarke continued: “We contacted Ipswich Town, who have been really helpful and are supplying six of their stewards, with the cost being covered through the gate receipts.
“We haven’t got a massive fan base, so took the decision two years ago to stop producing a club programme for home matches as we were losing £800 on it each season.
“Since then the programme has been available online so people can download it. However, Gipping Press are producing a special commemorative 36-page programme for this match.
“And a souvenir poster celebrating the club’s victory over Yeovil Town in the previous round will be on sale.
“It was (Needham striker) Luke Ingram’s idea to get Ben Pooley, our club photographer, to take the shot of the squad and staff in the goalmouth with the scoreboard above showing we had won 8-7 on penalties.”
Clarke said Needham are trying to protect their pitch to provide as good a playing surface as possible.
He continued: “You want to put on a good spectacle on the day, so pitch preparation is important to ensure both teams have a good surface to play on.
“We have postponed all games on the grass pitch for seven days from the previous Saturday, in order to work on the pitch.
“We have used some of the prize money from our run to purchase new equipment costing £1,800 for Kenny Thorpe, our volunteer groundsman, and we have got Parkers Pitches coming in to do some work on the Tuesday and Wednesday.”
