An Aylsham-based business marking its centenary is celebrating by being the main sponsor of the town’s planned new all-weather football pitch.
The £1m community sports facility, being promoted by the local football club and Youngs Park sports ground, will be called the J B Postle 3G Arena.
The electrical retailer, which was founded in Aylsham in 1923 and also has branches in North Walsham and Sheringham, will sponsor the pitch, which is due to open next summer, for the first three years. They will also make a major contribution towards the £35,000 of local fundraising needed to top up grant funding.
Company director Jon Postle said: “We like to help by putting something back into our local community. Supporting this fantastic modern sports facility is a great way to mark our centenary.
“One hundred years ago our granddad John Baden Postle supported the football club when it was on the Recreation Ground. Today we already support the club at Youngs Park by providing them with televisions for the clubhouse, but wanted to do more to help the pitch project at a club which is a key part of the community.”
Nikki Filby and Jon Postle
Football club chairman and Youngs Park trustee Ian Potter said: “We are really grateful for Postle’s support of our 3G pitch. They have helped us since we launched Youngs Park in 2015, so this naming rights sponsorship for the 3G arena was a natural follow on.
“Their contribution not only gets the ball rolling on our local top-up fundraising this year, but will help create a fund to maintain the facility and replace the playing surface in the future.“
The 3G pitch scheme, which is backed by the football club and The Youngs Community Sports Trust, was given a big boost last month when it received a £250,000 grant from the Greater Norwich Growth Board’s Infrastructure Investment Fund to start the ball rolling. Further grant help, to deliver the project, is now being finalised from the Football Foundation – the government-backed FA and Premier League charity improving grassroots football facilities.
The new floodlit pitch with fencing and a spectator area is needed to cope with demand for matches and training in all weathers at a popular facility that has grown 70pc in seven years, and now hosts 34 teams and recreational groups with more than 500 players a week.
J B Postle, which is part of the Euronics UK electrical wholesale group, began as a hairdresser/ barber and tobacconist before its founder diversified into electronics by collecting and serving accumulator batteries in the local area. It is run today by co-directors Jon and his sister Nikki Filby.
Ian Potter with Nikki Filby and Jon Postle
WORDS: JUST REGIONAL