Deal Town FC

10th August 2025

Changing Rooms Finally Complete

Deal Town Football Club is delighted to announce the official opening of its brand-new, purpose-built changing room facilities at The Charles Ground. The ribbon-cutting marks the culmination of months of planning, fundraising, and construction, delivering a landmark development that not only fulfils the club’s new league requirements but sets a new benchmark for infrastructure at non-league level.

The facility was formally opened yesterday (09/08/2025) in a ceremony attended by club officials, players, local councillors, and key sponsors of the club, marking a proud moment in Deal Town’s long and storied history.

Following our promotion to Step 4 in the football pyramid in 2024, the club was required to meet the ground grading standards set by The FA in order to compete in the Isthmian League South-East Division. The new changing rooms, now fully operational, form the centrepiece of that transformation, ensuring the club remains compliant while delivering genuine improvements for everyone involved in matchdays.

The upgraded facility includes:

• Reconfigured changing rooms for home and away teams.
• A re-located match officials’ changing area, including provisions for female match officials.
• A new medical treatment room, accessible to both teams on matchday.
• A reconfigured laundry and store room.
• These upgrades replace the previous, outdated setup which had been in place for several decades and now meet both league requirements and modern expectations of equality, safety, and inclusivity.

Chair Natalie Benville, who has led the project from conception to completion, praised the collective effort behind the development:

This is more than just a building; it is a statement of where we are as a club and where we aim to be heading. We’ve taken great care to retain the spirit and character of The Charles Ground while investing in the future. These new facilities aren’t just for our players and officials; they’re for the whole Deal community, and a lasting legacy for future generations.

She continued:

We’ve delivered this project with sustainability, accessibility and community use at its heart. I want to thank everyone involved; DB Works for their extensive commitment, time and energy in creating this build. Smith Group for helping lift the concept from imagination to design, Dover District Council and the Football Foundation too, and to everyone else for helping to make this vision a reality.

The project, which cost just over £147,000 (excluding VAT), was supported by funding from multiple sources, including football grant schemes and club-raised contributions; £109,000 was received directly through the Football Foundation Stadia Improvement Fund. Planning permission was granted earlier this year and construction was carried out with sensitivity to the existing heritage of the ground.

To support alongside the grant, local resident and Deal Town Football Club supporter Peter Jones gifted the club a sizable donation. On the project, Mr. Jones was very complimentary:  

Lesley (my wife) and I wish to leave somewhat of a legacy to the Town’s footballing fraternity, in the form of ground improvements to the dressing rooms; work which has resulted in a brilliant transformation of the interior of the existing building. This has also supplemented our further assistance with the upgrading of the floodlights and required perimeter fencing. From our perspective money well spent.

Designed by local Architects, Smith Group, the extension features low-maintenance, energy-efficient materials and a thoughtful stepped-back design that blends seamlessly with the original structure. The project also coincides with wider improvements at The Charles Ground, including the recent installation of modern LED floodlighting.

The new facilities ensure we can continue our upward trajectory while remaining rooted in the values that have defined our club for over a century; community, ambition and inclusion. As the club prepares for the 2025/26 season, it does so with confidence and infrastructure that reflect its growing stature in the non-league game. This milestone reflects not just the evolution of Deal Town FC, but also the growing recognition that facilities at all levels of the game must evolve to support the modern demands of football.