Is turning floodlights off really a money saver?
- Andy Jones
- Dec 2, 2022
- 3 min read
When I set out to explore how the cost of living crisis was impacting non-league football clubs, I assumed that the cost of running floodlights at football matches would be extortionate.

[Floodlight at Gosport Borough FC | By Andy Jones ]
However, my perception of floodlight usage has shifted in recent weeks as I speak to more and more people.
Amii van Werven, marketing and people director at Halliday Lighting, a lighting company that specialises in installing and maintaining floodlights for sports clubs, gave me her professional insight into the issue.
"We are not trying to defend things because we are struggling. Everything is very positive, but there is this kind of outward perception of big lights, big money so turn them off."
The truth is, big lights don't always mean big money.
After speaking to Poole Town FC chairman, Chris Reeves, he revealed the clubs spend on floodlights is small enough to not worry about.
"We've done an exercise on our floodlights and it is not a fortune. Our floodlights cost us about £90 to run for the duration of a game and we don't see that saving that amount of money is worth all the upheaval to the normal pattern of football life."
It seems that bringing kick off times forward - just to save on money - could be a red herring.
A Football Supporters Association's (FSA) survey suggests that 1 in 10 fans will likely not attend games if kick offs are brought forward.
This is down to fans having prior engagements on Saturday mornings - after all football fans at this level go to games at 3pm every week - it is their weekly ritual.
It also discourages travelling fans from attending, especially when there are trips of several hundred miles to deal with. Not only setting off earlier, but also the increase in fuel prices plays its part.
Gareth Cummins, network manager for the national game at the FSA, highlighted these two issues as areas of concern before adding: "We would want fans to be consulted on a club by club basis.
"If your club is going to face a huge hike in energy bills it might be worth doing. If they are only facing a little bit of a rise then that seems like it might be wiped out by those people who wouldn't otherwise be able to attend, so it is not a one size fits all solution."

[AI Stadium, Privett Park, home of Gosport Borough FC | By Andy Jones]
And just like that, the next club I spoke to had a different approach to the situation and would consider changing the kick-off times but were still wary of the knock on effect that could have and are set to trial the idea this weekend.
Gosport Borough FC host Tiverton Town on Saturday 03 December and will kick-off at 12.30pm.
The reason behind the switch was to avoid a clash with England's potential World Cup second round tie, and despite England now playing on Sunday evening the kick-off time remains and the club will use it as a trial to see how it impacts the amount of fans who will attend.
Peter Harries, operations manager at the club said: "You don't really know how it will affect your fan base. Whether it will become more difficult for them to come to the games if it is an earlier kick-off.
"Obviously, this weekend we have the first of those early kick-offs, we have a 12.30 kick-off against Tiverton and it will be interesting to see how it affects the crowd.
"On top of everything else it will be the performance on the field that will drive the support you are getting and maybe the performances will outweigh any negativity around earlier start times.
"But we will be very much open to exploring earlier kick off times and this Saturday will give us a bit of information on it - so lets wait and see."
Gosport Borough FC will be the main focus of the documentary set for release in mid-December as I spent several days at the club diving deeper into how the club is keeping itself afloat during the tough financial climate.
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