And one upside of the plans for the new pitch — hailed a community asset by many — being approved is that ultimately more young players from the town will get the chance and be good enough to represent the Rocks, they say.

Fans have until Friday to back the bid to install a state-of-the-art artificial (3G) pitch in a project costing £1.2million. You can review the grant application here and find a link to the planning portal here. Submit your support online. A pre-written statement is available here to make this quick and easy.

The club says the proposed 3G pitch is “more than just a football surface — it’s the foundation of the club’s future. Without it, we risk financial instability, reduced participation, and the decline of our facilities culminating in reduced competitiveness on the pitch. With it, we can secure a sustainable, inclusive, and progressive future for BRTFC”.

The benefits, it is said, will enable year-round usage, benefiting boys, girls, walking and disability football, and local community groups and generate essential income through hire fees, providing financial stability and supporting the club’s operations.

If the planning application is successful and the funding is realised — 70 per cent is in place with committee members pledging the remainder — work will start at the end of this campaign.

Howell, a former player and first team manager of the Rocks, said: “I think we are at a real crossroads as a club in what we are trying to do in terms of player development; with the younger players it is imperative that we get the 3G as I think we are losing out to certain rivals in terms of offering a pathway from our youth teams into the first team.

“We have lots of really good players in the town… I coach a lot of them — I have a football business in the town — and we need a pathway when’re they can see their route from the youth section on to our U18 team and the first team. If we can get the pitch it’ll become a focal point for the community and hopefully we can then see more players representing Bognor who come from the Bognor area, and that is really important.”

Birmingham, who took over four games ago alongside Howell, said: “It will be a fantastic development for the club and the community, a real asset fo the community actually. There are so many benefits and it is the only way that non-league clubs are able to survive who haven’t got a big ‘sugar daddy’ who will plough big money into a club.

“It’s huge and one of the main reasons that me and Jamie agreed to come across because it is such a big project that the club will move forward with the facilities and hopefully may be able to compete with other clubs in terms of budget.”

You can read the club’s full statement on the initiative here.