A FOOTBALL club has been saved from certain closure after a community rallied round to raise vital funds.

Willington Association Football Club faced closure just five years short of its 100th anniversary when its main building developed a hole in the roof.

Chairman Alistair Melville made an impassioned plea through The Northern Echo in June, for help after bids to the National Lottery to fund repairs were rejected.

The appeal resulted in the town's Workingmen's club running a special fundraising night and local company CA Group Ltd, from Evenwood, donating the materials for the new roof.

Mr Melville said: "The generous donation from the CA Group resulted in us being able to get match funding from Wear Valley District Council's Single Regeneration Fund. And Willington Workingmen's Club raised a substantial amount from a charity night.''

The club's junior and senior season in the Albany Northern League came to an abrupt end this year after water was found seeping through the roof of the building and over light fittings in the changing rooms and kitchen.

Paul Hanratty, marketing manager at CA Group Ltd, said the company's Building Products Division donated the roofing materials.

"It provided more of a community source than just helping a football club and the alternative was closure.''

Work on the roof and the fixtures and fittings inside the building have now been completed.