Club&#39;s owner reveals £500k spend on stadium upgrade

Smart new dressing rooms are among the many new additions at Nelson FC [BBC]

The chairman of a non-league football club in Lancashire has revealed he spent more than £500,000 renovating the stadium and its surroundings since he bought it in December 2023.

Chris Price, co-owner of Nelson FC, said he had funded a new stand, paths, roads, car parks, floodlights, new changing rooms, catering facilities, a club shop, bar and the club's 1882 corporate lounge, adding: "It literally never stops."

Price said he had never intended to purchase the club but struck up a conversation with the previous owner while scouting one of their players for nearby Colne FC.

Nelson FC were founded in 1882 and were the first English team to beat Real Madrid in Spain in 1923.

A set of picnic tables and a large umbrella on a concrete deck. Behind it, green cabins that have signs for a bar and toilets, and above those a large screen. In the background, some trees without their leaves — The stadium has a new decking area, picnic tables and a large screen [BBC]

But despite its storied past, match day secretary David Wells said the club was in dire need of investment when Price purchased it alongside business partner Stewart Fort.

"What the owners have done down here has been absolutely amazing," he said.

"A few years ago the pitch and ground was so bad we were close to getting the ground closed down to be honest."

Wells said the club did offer Real Madrid a re-match for the 100th anniversary of the famous 1923 win, "but they weren't up for it, I think they were too scared of getting beaten again!"

A football pitch, with advertising hoardings around it. There are two green stands, one at the far end behind the goal, and one on the left of the pitch. A man in high vis walks on the pitch at the corner of the penalty area — Victoria Park, known locally as Little Wembley, is the home of Nelson FC [BBC]

The news of Price's impromptu purchase three years ago was unexpected for his wife as well.

"Got home, had to tell the missus about it and she nearly fell out of her chair," the chairman said.

As well as improvements off the pitch, the club - who currently play in the sixth tier of the English football pyramid - has also seen growth on the pitch as well.

Despite finishing bottom of North West Counties Division One North in 2023-24, the club were given a reprieve from relegation.

The following season they finished second in the same league, losing in the playoff semi-final to Euxton Villa on penalties.

A man wearing a navy blue hoodie smiles at the camera in front of a football pitch. In the right corner in the background, a row of terrace houses. — Chris Price said he and his business partner have put £500k into the club [BBC]

Price has been involved in football in Lancashire for decades. A former player himself, he also managed Padiham, Barnoldswick Town and Lancashire Juniors.

But ownership was a new adventure for him.

"We are just hoping to reignite Nelson really, as a town it needs a little bit of something, a bit of panache putting back into the place," he said.

"When I see fans walking out of here with a smile on their face, and the young lads cheering, that's what I do it for."

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