Weston FC have called on the town to help them “achieve“ their goal of raising £10,000 towards work on The Optima Stadium amid the Coronavirus pandemic.

The Seagulls, who last played on February 25 in their Somerset Cup quarter final win over Taunton, have set up a JustGiving page to help pay for stadium maintenance costs.

With every fiver donated there will be access to one of their pre-season friendlies and after the success of their walking footballers, who raised £500 for Weston General Hospital, the club have promised to donate 10% of the final amount raised to the NHS if they reach their target.

“For a minimum of five pounds donated, we will offer free entry to one of our local pre-season friendlies and if we can meet our £10K target or even exceed this, we will donate 10% of this to NHS Charities.

“We all adjust to a new way of life,” said said the club in a message to the local community.

“We have a huge challenge ahead, to make sure that this long standing football club, can open its gates once again and offer football that we all love and admire.

“As with all well run football clubs, we are always planning ahead, the close season is a time where we look to improve things, not just on the playing front, but to improve and maintain the facility and stadium, this is where we are asking you, our loyal supporters for help.

“With the season finishing early, missed income from our remaining home games, a calendar of functions that have been cancelled, the following work and improvements cannot commence.”

“Despite work having already been done on the stadium three weeks early and with the contractors agreeing to a delayed payment, there is still a lot more jobs to get done ahead of the upcoming campaign and have outlined how the money will be spent.

“The sound system is in need of a full upgrade, toilets within the bar and function suite are in a very bad state and need a desperate upgrade,” continued the message.

“We want to improve the match day kitchen facility and the list goes on and on.

“We appreciate times are hard and other things are taking priority, but if you feel you can help in anyway, then please be rest assured, your donation is greatly appreciated and will never be forgotten.”

“We understand this is a big, big ask, but we are hopeful that we can all come together and achieve our goal.”

Speaking to the Weston Mercury, Neil Keeling, Weston’s Operations Director, said: “We haven’t taken this decision likely.

“We realise times are really tough for everyone at the moment, but we are hoping the Seagulls family can come together and help the club whilst supporting NHS Charities at the same time.”

You can find the link to the JustGiving page here - https://www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/wsmafc