Newark FC supporters fear for club's future

Supporters of the town’s highest ranked football club fear they will be left without a team next season.

Newark FC attracted one of their highest gates of the season (175) on Wednesday evening as they progressed to the semi-finals of the Notts Senior Cup with a 2-0 win over a youthful Notts County side, but surpassing the 100 mark on a regular basis has proved to be a problem for the Highwaymen.

Newark regularly attracted capacity crowds of 300 during the covid-hit season, when gates were limited at Lowfields due to the pandemic.

Prior to that, while playing under Newark Flowserve at step six, the club were praised for having the highest average attendance (214) in the division.

Stephen Crane, who led a campaign to save the club’s former home ground from a housing developer, before their temporary move to Basford United’s Greenwich Avenue, said: “Some of us are getting sick and fed up of this travelling and we haven’t heard anything official about a new piece of land or our plans for next season.

“On Wednesday night there were 175 there and it has been the same nucleus of supporters who go week-in, week-out.

“Newark Brazil (the youth section) has signed a deal with the Magnus, and Newark Town have pitches for their young players, and these facilities are just as important as Newark FC’s first team.

“We don’t need a pitch, we need a home.”

Crane understood sporting land would be available at Middlebeck in the coming years.

Paul Mayfield, of Doncaster, who stumbled across Newark FC during the pandemic after professional clubs closed their stadiums, said: “We came down to Lowfields against Deeping Rangers in the FA Cup when the flares went off. What a welcoming that was.

“We went to about 15 games during the covid season, and we really got behind the club.

“It was perfect for us because we couldn’t watch Doncaster Rovers and my friend lived in Bingham. Newark was half way between Retford and Bingham, and the support was great at the time.

“Newark Town cant ground-share because it doesn’t have the right stadium gradings and then there’s Grantham or Harrowby, but like here (at Basford) it’s a trek from Newark.

“We took Newark to heart because it is such a friendly club. It is the same faces and everybody says ‘hello’, but I don’t know how long this can last — it isn’t sustainable.”

Damian Andrew, father of Newark ‘keeper Sam, also felt the football club would not be able to continue financially from out of town.

“They need some land quickly and, to be honest, I can’t see there being a team next season if they can’t get some,” he said. “The supporters will be gutted of course. A few seasons ago we were getting 300 a week, pushing 400, and it would be a huge loss for the town.”

Newark FC were approached for comment.

Paul Sawyer, of Newark, who was at the game with his son, said it was the first year they had regularly attended matches, but found the travelling to be a problem.

“We didn’t go at Lowfields as much as we would have liked to, but we know it would be much better there,” he said.

“The obvious problem is the travel for fans and the drop off in attendances shows that.

“The support (against County) was brilliant, but it is the other games where we have struggled.”