Arundel count the cost of flood damage

The Mill Road club escaped major damage to the clubhouse by just a matter of inches as water levels peaked last Friday. Some of the pitch is now visible again and, while the tea hut and function room flooded badly, the club escaped without any major damage to the main bar.

Home matches still look to be a number of weeks away with the sodden pitch like a marsh and having to close the clubhouse and cancel parties for two weeks has cost the club crucial financial revenue.

Marchant said: “I think we’ll be all right. Steve Nealgrove (County League chairman) has said if they can help out in any way, financially, with a loan or something, they would. Hopefully, we won’t have to take them up on that, but it’s nice to know it’s there if push came to shove.

“We have had a couple of donations from club members which normally happens up at Arundel, they help out when we have a problem, which is also very nice.

“It could have been a lot worse. We were probably ten millimetres from being a lot, lot worse. Another high tide coming over the bank would have put us into the tens of thousands.”

Mullets joint manager Simon Butler said: “The tides are going out further now and it’s getting time to clear – you can actually see some grass now. There is nowhere near as much damage as there could have been if it was an inch or so higher. The tea hut is knackered as that was completely underwater, but the main clubhouse was the biggest concern.

“We can’t get the pumps on to the pitch yet as the water is still too high, but as soon as they go on, it will go down and it’s quite a quick process.

“The main bar was the main concern. The function room around the back is a bit lower so a little bit of water got in there, but there is not as much damage as there could have been. It could have been much, much worse. It’s still sad old times for the club and it will be at least a couple more week until we can play on it.”