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You name it... soccer club puts stadium name up for grabs
Joanne Ginley IT'S NOT exactly Old Trafford or St James' Park but for as little as £200 a football fan could sponsor the Pontefract Collieries FC ground.
The club has put its Skinner Lane ground name up for sale – giving even the smallest investor a chance to buy their own piece of sporting fame.
Ground capacity isn't huge, but there is a small, covered stadium, plenty of standing room and attendances at home games average between 50 and 200.
The club, which plays in the Northern Counties East Football League, is believed to be the first in the country to try to attract ground sponsors on the internet.
Sadly, by yesterday afternoon, the enterprising club hadn't received a single bid.
The club's offer, posted on internet auction site eBay, says: "Pontefract Collieries are selling the ground name on eBay to simply the highest bidder, meaning if you are the highest bidder you can call the stadium whatever you like. The contract will last for one season with an option to extend."
For many years the club received a subsidy from the Prince of Wales Colliery but following its closure the funds have dried up and the club is looking at new ways of generating cash to help develop its young team.
Paul Eastwood, club commercial secretary, said: "Ideally we would like a local company to come forward with a substantial bid but this is an experiment and anything could happen.
"If it means an individual or one of our own fans pledging the minimum asking price of 200 and naming the ground after themselves, that's fine."
For more information about the auction, which closes tomorrow, email: pauleastwood@hotmail.com or call 07764 746902.
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Saturday 26 May 2012
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