Louth Town building for the future as ground redevelopment plans go ahead

Louth Town took their first step towards promotion from the Lincolnshire League Premier Division without a ball being kicked this week when planning permission was granted to re-develop their Marshlands ground in Saltfleetby.
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Now boss Carl Martin knows they also need to do the business on the pitch to make their dreams come true.

The new developments will see floodlights, stands, pitchside railing, hard standing, new officials changing rooms and turnstiles.

“If we are looking to push on to the next standard and the next league, our ground is not up to standard at the minute,” said Martin.

“It's not good enough for promotion so we are 'speccing' it up for that,

“It's all very exciting and I hope the community will pull together, help us and push us forward.

“We already have the railings in two weeks ago and the diggers are now putting the hard-standing in and the cables are going in for the floodlights in the next two weeks, so hopefully the ground will be up to spec before the season starts.

“The lights will cost about £35,000 to get installed and up and running. We do have some money in the bank but we have advertising boards at the ground for hire and also hope someone may come in and help us out. I hope the lights will be working by Christmas. Nothing beats playing under lights.

Martin is still looking to bolster his squad but, with money tight with the ground development, is finding recruitment tough.

“We are still looking at bringing in more quality but it's hard at our level as we don't pay money,” he said.

“The first thing players turn round and ask now is how much are you going to pay us?

“We are trying to progress and we are chucking a lot of money at the ground improvements and trying to look after the club.

“If we want to win the league we know we need a bit more quality – but we won't be held to ransom.”

Louth saw off Humber Premier League side Skulcoates Amateurs 3-2 in their latest friendly last Saturday with goals from Joe Marshall, Reece Southwood and Niall Johnson.

“We went 3-0 up then made a lot of changes in the last half hour which disrupted things,” said Martin.

“But it was a really good performance and nice to get some goals.

“The previous defeat was against a side two divisions above us but on Saturday we stamped our authority on it and there was more quality.

“You can tell the lads are now champing at the bit.”

There is no game this weekend but Louth have games against Retford United (23rd) and East Riding Rangers (30th) and will add further friendlies on August 6th plus a midweek game or two depending on availability of opposition.

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