TABS CC – A New Ground?
Introduction to the Club & its Membership
Thorp Arch & Boston Spa Cricket Club (“TABS” or “the Club”) is a thriving cricket club that has played at its
existing ground in the village of Thorp Arch for 140 years.
The Club’s membership has grown substantially in recent years and the Club currently operates:
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10 junior teams (at Under 9’s, Under 11’s, Under 13’s, Under 15’s and Under 17’s) playing in the
Wetherby Junior Cricket League and Nidderdale Cricket League;
4 senior teams playing the York & District Senior Cricket League and the York Vale League;
A programme of introductory cricket and sporting activity for girls and boys aged 4-6 (“TABS
Tykes”)
TABS has developed a strong reputation for the quality of cricket provision, with a professional Level 3
Coach leading the overall coaching programme. TABS’ junior teams perform to a high level at every age
group and were either league champions or runners-up in every division in 2012 following a similar
performance in 2011.
The Club has 120 junior members and around 50 senior players, making it one of the largest cricket clubs in
Yorkshire in terms of participation. Of that total, around 75% of the players live in Thorp Arch and Boston
Spa, with most of the rest living nearby in Clifford, Bramham, Walton, Kirk Deighton, Spofforth, Wetherby
and Tadcaster.
Existing Ground & Facilities
TABS is currently based at a small cricket ground located in the centre of Thorp Arch. The Club occupies the
land under a rolling 12 month lease at a peppercorn rent.
The playing surface itself is of excellent quality and the cricket square is regularly graded highly by visiting
senior teams and umpires as part of the York & District Senior League, match rating scheme. The playing
surface drains well and is used exhaustively during the summer months for matches, coaching and practice.
Cricket is played at the ground almost every day between late April and early September and is then “put to
bed” for the autumn and winter months.
The Club facilities comprise a small changing room unit and a separate tea hut. These facilities are substandard, dilapidated and increasingly unfit for purpose. In terms of the changing rooms, the showering
facilities no longer work; the roof recently collapsed and both changing rooms are increasingly affected by
damp. The tea hut interior ceiling is close to collapse, the exterior doors have now rotted away and there
are significant concerns relating to health and safety standards in the kitchen area.
Finally, and perhaps most importantly, the ground only has one working toilet (located in the changing
rooms) and a small urinal. The toilet facilities for children and ladies, in particular, are simply inadequate
and are an embarrassment to Club members and the village.
To a large extent, therefore, the Club’s playing activities have now outgrown the sub-standard facilities at
the ground.
Club Finances
TABS financial position is currently weak as a result of the high and rising costs of maintaining and repairing
the ground and a lack of revenue and funding sources due to the inadequate facilities and restrictive
ground tenure.
It currently costs around £23k p.a. to run the Club of which approximately £10k p.a. is spent on ground
maintenance and repairs. In 2012 the Club generated revenue of £20k after a season disrupted by poor
weather, resulting in a deficit of £3k and reduction in the Club’s reserves. The £20k revenue includes
annual sponsorship of £5k from a local business (tutor2u) which is the Club’s main financial backer and is
owned by the Club Chairman Jim Riley. Junior cricket generates a further £8k of net revenue with the
balance made up by event fundraising.
In common with many cricket clubs, a significant proportion of income is generated by the junior playing
section. The Club’s programme of structured coaching throughout the winter, spring and summer attracts a
high number of talented junior players. Due to its reputation and high quality coaching programme and the
provision of extensive winter nets, the Club is able to charge a higher junior subscription than other clubs in
the area and junior subscription revenues have grown strongly in recent years.
The senior cricket section does not generate as much revenue as junior cricket but is able to cover the costs
of match days and league membership and make a small contribution to ground costs.
The underlying reasons for the Club’s existing annual deficit are as follows:
(1) The Club facilities are not suitable for revenue-generation; there is no licensed bar and the tea hut
cannot be hired out to other users ;
(2) Substantial costs (approximately £3-4k p.a.) are being spent on essential repairs to the facilities and
this amount is increasing as the facilities degrade further;
(3) The existing tenure (12 month lease) precludes the Club from accessing grant and similar funding
schemes
A New Ground & Facilities
Put simply, the Club has outgrown its existing facilities and has no long-term future under the existing
ground lease arrangement. The existing short-term lease combined with the increasing cost of repairing
failing facilities is killing the Club financially, despite the Club’s strong reputation for coaching and playing
and relatively high junior subscription rates.
There is substantial support amongst Club members for continued development of the junior and senior
cricket programmes and this may extend to support for examining the potential for an improved location
within the village. An EGM has been called for late January 2013 to assess the extent of this support.
The potential benefits to TABS and to the local community of a new ground could include:
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Certainty of tenure, enabling the Club to access funding sources which require freehold ownership
or a long-term lease;
Clubhouse facilities that enable revenue generation from room hire, events, other leisure activities,
catering and a licensed bar;
The potential to explore multi-sport use of the playing surface to enable the ground to be used
throughout the year;
Suitable facilities to enable stronger partnerships to be developed with local schools &
organisations who could be encouraged to use the ground;
The capacity to increase the provision of junior cricket and improve practice facilities as more space
is available (a larger ground enables more than one match to be played at one time);
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Being able to attract other matches to the ground (there is constant demand for grounds to host
representative matches and these can be high income earners);
Enable the Club’s senior teams in the Y&DSCL to progress through the divisions as currently the
facility marks for TABS (i.e. buildings) are below the level required for teams to play in either the
Premier or 1st Division (currently we are in Division 2). The current marks also fall below the
required standard for any club wishing to enter the league at any level;
Address known local issues such as car parking, damage to property and complaints from residents
whose homes surround the existing ground.
The Club has extensive commercial, technical and legal expertise within its playing membership and feels it
would be able to play a constructive part in the evaluation of a potential new ground and the development
of a viable business model for operating the Club with new facilities.