Both Exeter City Football Club and the Supporters' Trust are delighted to announce the launch of a new and ambitious fundraising project that is hoped will help lay the foundations of future success at the football club.

Pitch In for City is the birth child of Trustee Tony Badcock and is an ambitious initiative that is hoped will raise upwards of £150,000 to provide City manager Paul Tisdale with a new playing surface at the end of this current season.

Speaking of the project Tony Badcock said; "As a Trust owned football club we can all truly say that we own our football club. With this ownership comes many benefits, but what it does not afford us, is the ability to draw funds from any one particular person - we have no sugar daddy."

With the upturn in the club's fortunes in the last few years, the club has seen an ever increasing drive towards improved professionalism throughout its operation. At the centre of this is improved budgeting and forward forecasting, which is designed to provide manager Paul Tisdale with the funds to enable our club to be competitive in League One.

Tony Badcock commented; "Paul Tisdale has identified the pitch as an area of weakness and with the likely cost of replacing the pitch being in the area of £150,000, this could well equate to 4 new first team players on his budget. With this in mind, the Trust feels that we should look at all avenues to funding this new pitch in order to provide Paul with the best possible chance of progressing the playing side next season".

The Pitch at St James Park has been an iconic entity in the club's history, and has been at the centre of the club for many years. However with the current demands placed on the pitch from the clubs league and cup commitments, it is unable to be used to its fullest potential by the rest of the community.

Speaking on the importance of the pitch to the community Trust chairman Denise Watts said; "Our pitch has certainly seen some iconic moments. Who could forget Scott Hiley nutmegging Ronaldo! However the club has ambitions on opening up use of the pitch to the wider community, for use by the youth in Exeter, and other community groups. In its current state this is not possible, and for a club like ours, this is a real shame".

The Trust's response to assisting with funding the improvement of the St James Park pitch are also borne out because of the importance of moving the pitch to the future redevelopment of St James Park. Denise Watts commented; "The club are looking at all aspects of ground redevelopment and before any such development can happen, the pitch will have to be moved so that we can maximise the space available to develop both the Old Grandstand and the away end".

The specific aim of the Pitch In scheme will be to raise the funds necessary to replace the St James Park pitch. Much of these funds will be raised by direct fundraising through running events, selling merchandise and donations. However the Trust is also looking at other streams of funding available. Tony Badcock commented; "There are many ways that this project can be funded, and fundraising will be a significant and important element. However the Trust is seeking to engage other funding bodies with the view to raising significant funds via these channels".

It is envisaged that this project will grow organically, and regular updates will feature on both the club and Trust websites, as well as in the Express & Echo, who the Trust are delighted to say are officially partnering this scheme.

The importance of this project to the club can not be understated and the Trust would urge anybody who has any ideas for fundraising schemes, or believes that they would like to assist with the project to email us at trust@ecfc.co.ukor write to Exeter City Supporters' Trust, PO Box 231, Exeter, Devon.

To donate to Pitch In click the link below