Non-league Kettering Town fans get football ground ready for TV

Armed with their paintbrushes and toolkits, lifelong fans of Kettering Town are busy preparing their 3,000-capacity ground ready for next month’s televised FA Cup clash.

There was jubilation after the Poppies humiliated local rivals – League One’s Northampton Town – in the first round, beating the Cobblers 2-1 at Sixfields.

Their next opponents are League Two’s Doncaster Rovers, and their Latimer Park site will be on show to viewers across the country.

The volunteers tell the BBC what they have been up to as the ground gets ready for kick-off.

Roger Rose, from Burton Latimer, where Kettering’s ground is, is repairing a previous “chicken wire” fence with neater plastic mesh.

“Because we’re fans and we come here every week, we see the little things that annoy us and will annoy other people, so we get on and get it done,” he says.

The 63-year-old used to work as a technician in the NHS and says he enjoys the “camaraderie” of volunteers.

“Last week, we were fixing a tap in the toilets in the clubhouse.

“You look at what the improvements on the ground are… it’s so much better now.

“Even simple things which most people just pass by and not even notice have been changed.”

Tony Heath says “there’s a lot of work going on in the ground” for the arrival of Doncaster on 1 December.

He comes down to the club, along with other volunteers, on a Thursday. He has been working on the hedges by “putting some shape back” and cutting back the trees.

“It’s all for a good cause, for our beloved club,” he says.

“I’m one of them absurd folk that has supported Kettering for a long, long time.

“It’s a very proud club and it’s something we can do to support the club.

“[The FA Cup] is gripping the town now.”

Mike Thurland says he has been following the Poppies for “probably 60 years now – and it’s a good place to be at this point in time”.

He and his wife often get the task of “painting fences or anything that needs painting”.

Due to the match being on TV, the 68-year-old says he has had to “paint the club shop – which is a 40ft (12m) container – twice”.

“We’re a good group here and we all get on,” says Mike.

“We all have a laugh and a joke, often at each other’s expense, but it’s a really good atmosphere.

“Since we started on this cup run, we have more and more people who’ve become interested and are willing to come along and help.

“The more that come, the better it makes the place look.”

Ian Hopewell is both the groundsman and club secretary. He says the volunteers have “done a remarkable job”.

Thanks to the run in the FA Cup, the club has also seen an increase in attendance, which he says is “great”.

“These are the foundations of a football club and the better the facilities are when the bigger crowds do come,” he says.

“It’s more of a match day experience for them and you can’t put a value to that.”