Fakenham Town have added upwards of £12,000 to their coffers after hosting the prestigious friendly against Championship side Norwich City.

By CHRIS LAKEY

Fakenham Town have added upwards of £12,000 to their coffers after hosting the prestigious friendly against Championship side Norwich City.

A crowd estimated at around the 2000 mark - a record for Clipbush Park - saw the Canaries run out 4-0 victors, but Fakenham will consider themselves to have been the winners on the night.

“If I were to put a figure on it I'd say we will have taken somewhere between £12,000 and £15,000,” said vice-chairman Paul Wright. “We have some expenses to take out of that of course so you're looking at £12,000 which is a fantastic amount of money for a club like ours.”

Fakenham spent around £2,000 ensuring that their pitch was of the highest quality, and satisfied City's strict requirements.

“I think we repaid the compliment Norwich paid us by allowing us to host the game by giving them such a good surface which ensured their players were given the good run-out that they wanted.

“Everybody at the club deserves a pat on the back.”

Canaries boss Nigel Worthington was keen to ensure that his players avoided any injury risks by playing on a surface that was good and true - and that's exactly what groundsman Dave Kendall gave him.

“I want to congratulate Fakenham Town because it was an excellent pitch,” said Worthington. “I congratulated the groundsman before the game, and deservedly so. It's a good facility and we have been made very, very welcome and hopefully whatever they have raised on the gate will help them out during the course of the season.”

Wright added: “It is nice to hear that because at the end of the day their number one priority was that we have them a good playing surface and I think we did that. It's a nice big surface as well and everybody involved is very proud.

“We had one or two teething problems but it is the first time the new facilities have been used and they will be ironed out quickly.

“Certainly, the verdict for the night is fantastic, brilliant. We are really pleased with how it all went.

“We ticked off all the boxes and achieved what we set out to achieve. I think everybody at the club deserves a pat on the back.”