Brightlightsea Regent of England’s non-league Thurlow Nunn Premier Division recently addressed fan capacity issues by erecting a used stand purchased earlier in the week on eBay. Said stand made it’s debut at yesterday’s FA Vase victory over Bodmin Town While Regent used turnstiles purchased from the old Walthamstow Stadium (as seen on the cover Blur’s ‘Parklife’), club chairman Terry Doherty tells the BBC the new seating structure had been on eBay for over two years. Not as tough to sell as the 10-foot Steve Nash guitar, but almost as difficult.
The stand, purchased from an Isle of Wight seller for £5,500, has been taken apart and will be brought on a truck to the town, 10 miles south of Colchester, and put up on Friday in time for the weekend’s game, which is being billed as the biggest in the club’s history.
Brightlingsea, who attract more than 100 spectators a game, were promoted to the Eastern Counties League Premier Division, the ninth tier, last season.
Their North Road ground has a 50-seat stand, but the club need to increase that to 100 by the end of March to meet league requirements.
The new stand takes their seating capacity to 157, which will also satisfy the standards of the league above, should the R’s, who are currently sixth in the table, win promotion again.