EXCLUSIVE: GREAT Harwood Town face the threat of folding at the end of the season -- unless someone comes forward to pump between £250-300,000 into the Unibond League club, writes PETER WHITE.

Chairman Bill Holden revealed the crisis exclusively to the Lancashire Evening Telegraph today, after Harwood were ordered by the League to carry out major improvements to their ground.

And he also explained that, in the present circumstances, there was no way they could comply with the instructions.

The league have written to Harwood with a list of major works which they say should be carried out by the end of the season and certainly no later than next summer.

But Mr Holden, a builder by trade, says they would cost between £150-200,000 and that, simply, is money the club do not have.

There are other complications, over the lease of The Showground which is owned by adjacent nightclub Monroe's and which Harwood have been told will not be extended.

"As I see it, we are in a Catch 22 situation," said Mr Holden.

"The league have told us the work must be done and that we should apply for grants from the Football Trust and the FA.

"But we can't because we don't own the ground and only have a few years left on our lease. You need a lease of at least 20 years to apply.

"Monroe's will not extend it because they are trying to sell the nightclub and the ground for a six-figure sum, probably around £100,000.

"The league have not explicitly said they will kick us out but, obviously, if we don't satisfy the minimum grading then we know what will happen.

"And we can't go into the North West Counties League because they have the same stringent standards. Darwen have just been relegated because of their ground. "This club is my life and I won't give up without a fight.

"But I can see only one way out of this situation. That is for someone to buy the club and ground, then spend money on what needs doing, otherwise senior non-League football will die in the town.

"You are talking about anything up to £300,000 for the lot. I just don't see how we could raise that.

"This is not our fault, we have already spent a lot of money, £16,000 on new floodlights which had to be done, £20,000 on the hard-standing area around the pitch and £10,000 on refurbishing the social club.

"And I am not having a go at the league. I understand their wish to improve ground standards. But where can we get money like this from?

"Even if we could find the cash for the work, we would be faced with relocating in a few years because of the lease. The only answer is for someone to buy the ground."

The work that the league want doing centres on the old wooden stand at The Showground. It has been there since Derrick Keighley's days, when he recruited famous ex-Rovers stars such as Roy Vernon, Ronnie Clayton and Bryan Douglas before he went on to become Ewood chairman.

They say it is too small and is considered a safety hazard and would prefer a brand new steel and concrete construction.

They also want two steps of terracing, instead of the present one, under the covered standing area, a lot of work done on new boundary walls and a completely new toilet block in the ground.

Harwood have been given 28 days to come up with an action plan and the directors are urgently discussing the situation.

But Mr Holden genuinely feels this could be the end, unless a financial saviour comes in.

"We do a lot for the town and exist on small gates. We run several junior sides and a reserve team and have worked really hard to keep non-League football going," he added.

"A lot of money, has been raised and spent on improvements. But I just cannot see an answer to this problem.

"Our hands are tied but I am not on an ego trip and if there is someone who could help I would be delighted to hear from them and would be prepared to move aside or do anything to try to keep this club going. We really need a Lottery winner."

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.