A FEW weeks back I had the pleasure of taking in an evening of top open-air entertainment at the foot of the South Downs.

There was high drama provoking cheers and jeers from the crowd before the performers left to a standing ovation.

No, this wasn’t some some Shakespearean epic or Greek tragedy – it was a game in the Southern Combination Football League Premier Division, Hassocks versus Hailsham Town.

The 92 people who flocked to The Beacon and paid their £6 entry fee were treated to two hours of top-notch entertainment – eight goals, end-to-end action and a few tackles that would make Chelsea legend Chopper Harris wish he’d taken up ballet. And it was made possible by a few people who give their hard-earned free time to the love of the game.

From opening up every night to arranging the fixtures, washing the kit to finding matchday sponsors, some senior CEOs would find the workload in running a non-league community football club a little too much. And unlike those FTSE chiefs, the football fanatics don’t get huge bonuses or chauffeur driven limos for their efforts; they do it because they care and love what they do.

Sussex is blessed to have one of the best footballing set-ups in the country. The newly-created SCFL has more than 50 members spread across in three leagues.

Throw in two league clubs – Brighton and Hove Albion and Crawley Town – both of who put their community first, a host of “bigger” non-league teams such as Whitehawk, Eastbourne Borough and Hastings, plus hundreds more sides further down the football pyramid and it’s clear that there’s a great deal of love for the beautiful game in our county.

With each set-up having youth teams, veterans sides and an ever-increasing number of women’s clubs, there’s literally a place for everyone, to play with grounds busy every night of the week.

Some of the funding to fuel this drips down from the Premier League and the billion-pound television deals signed with Sky and BT. But for the volunteers that keep the clubs going this is not enough.

Which is why it’s such a kick in the teeth that chancellor George Osborne has announced a £3 million funding boost for grassroots football – in China.

Yes, China. The richest country in the world, with a turnover NINE times that of our little island.

This is the same China that can build hundreds of miles of railway lines in a matter of weeks. This is the same China that has robots to do most of its construction work. The same China that has more cities than I’ve eaten hot dinners.

Yet when it comes to 22 people kicking an inflated pig’s bladder around a field they need our help. According to Osborne, “grassroots football plays an instrumental role in UK life... This fantastic scheme which will bring new opportunities to young people across China will also help bring increased awareness and investment into the UK football sector”.

Let’s remember, this is a Government which has cut public spending in our own country by more than 10 per cent in order to control the deficit.

The Department for Culture, Media and Sport – which oversees football – has been told to draw up plans to slash its own budget by 40 per cent.

Yet, when it comes to Gorgeous George wooing the big beasts of Chinese industry, there’s still money washing around so the chancellor does not look like a lap dog.

Perhaps Osborne has his eyes on a bigger prize, that of the keys to Number 10. But George, here’s a reminder – it’s the people of Britain that will grant you that honour, not a bunch of Chinese autocrats, who find democracy more baffling than the offside rule.

And that £3 million would do an awful lot of good to grassroots sport in this country. It could pay for little things like a new washing machine for that kits can be cleaned in extra-fast time; it might pay for a new stand so that a club can climb up the football pyramid; it might even pay for a few travel expenses so those playing don’t have to pay for the privilege.

Who knows, some of them might even thank George at the ballot box for his generosity. As it is, the future of our national sport is the hands of a few hardy souls whose only goal is to keep the ball rolling.

 

Talking of keeping it local, it was great to see Brighton finally get its own currency of sorts.

First there was the Lewes pound with its £21 notes; then there was the Bristol pound; now we have Goodmoney, a gift voucher that can be spent in more than 140 local businesses.

The advantages are clear - Why should money created in this city and paid to people living in the city not be spent and kept in the city?

So if you’re stuck for a Christmas present or a thank you gift, it’s well worth checking it out. It’s a great idea and I wish it success - even if the Chancellor would probably wish the profits went to China...