There’s a new light in the sky over Mousehole this holiday season – and it’s not just the traditional Harbour Lights. 

Every year thousands of visitors flock to the small Cornish fishing harbour of Mousehole for the annual harbour lights. Displays are placed throughout the town and along the harbour wall and basin. It’s a tradition that dates back to 1963 and the lights are accompanied by choir singing and other festive events. 

This year however there’s a new light in the sky. Mousehole football club have just installed their new LED floodlights with the aid of a Football Foundation grant.

As winter draws in and the short days make floodlit football a weekly event, the bright lights over the coastline might make for a new attraction this winter. Stacey who runs Spaven Mor holiday home in Penzance took this great shot while out walking her dog. What a view from the Prom!

If you want to catch some great family entertainment in West Cornwall this Christmas, why not combine a harbour light visit with a game at Trungle Parc, just up the hill? Mousehole’s first team has home fixtures on the 2nd, 5th and 16th December with the women’s team at Trungle on the 10th December.

All Mousehole Fixtures here: https://www.mouseholeafc.co.uk/fixtures-table/

One match to aim for this Christmas is definitely the home fixture against Westbury on the 23rd December. That date is a special one for Mousehole as the village celebrates Tom Bawcock’s Eve. The festival is held in celebration and memorial of the efforts of legendary Mousehole resident Tom Bawcock to lift a famine from the village by going out to fish in a severe storm. During this festival Stargazy pie (a mixed fish, egg and potato pie with protruding fish heads) is eaten and there’s a lantern procession as well as a good deal of celebrating in the local pubs.

Mousehole AFC will be flying the flag for Cornwall at the annual Football Content Awards taking place at Liverpool’s Anfield football stadium on Thursday evening.

The West Cornwall club, who play in the Pitching In Southern League First Division, have been shortlisted in the Best Non-League Club Section. The face competition from Chesterfield, Hashtag United, Dorking Wanderers, Sheffield FC and Punjab United among others. Other categories being awarded on the night include Best Premier League Content Creator, Best Podcast, Best Influencer and Best E-Sports Creator. As well as Premier League clubs, representatives from the major broadcasters such as Sky Sports and BBC will be there, alongside international representatives from Real Madrid, Barcelona and the US Major League Soccer.

Mousehole have been shortlisted for their online content, including match-day video and text reports, live Twitter feeds and live pages from each game. Their documentary series Way Out West charted the progress of the team as they competed for, and eventually won, the Western League in April this year. The series focused on the progress both on and off the pitch, looking at the work of the managing staff of the club and the strong band of volunteers that keeps it going.

The club will be represented in Liverpool by chairman Deryk Heywood, media director Kevin Bishop, social media and website lead Jeff Richardson and match-day reporter Pablo-Woolls Blanco. There’s quick turnaround for the group who will be driving up to Liverpool on the day of the ceremony and straight back the next morning in time for the club’s Southern League match against Evesham on Saturday. Jeff Richardson – a former club manager – will be flying in for the event from the Netherlands from where he manages the club’s social media accounts.

Winners are awarded based on a combination of a public and jury vote. Judges include Ed Maylon, a founder of The Athletic and Isabel Hayle from Better Collective, a leading digital sports agency. The event is sponsored by Panini and Forza Football.

As well as voting for football content online, the event will also see awards for the content creators’ favourite footballers. Alessio Russo, Beth Mead and Lauren James are among the women’s nominations. Included in the men’s category are Erling Haaland, Marcus Rashford and Mo Salah.

The full shortlist for the ceremony is here: https://footballcontentawards.com/2023/09/25/2023-finalists-announced/

Mousehole AFC have launched a crowdfunding campaign to raise funds for a new access road to their ground at Trungle Parc near Penzance in Cornwall. The project aims to alleviate congestion caused by match-day and camping traffic in the neighbouring village of Paul.
 
The club has teamed up with Cornwall-based Crowdfunder and are looking to raise £100,000 over a period of five weeks. Click on the link below to find out more. AS well as donations there are many great rewards on offer in return for your generosity!

https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/p/mouseholeafc

Thanks to Jonah Holmes of Falmouth University for these great photos from Saturday. You can see more of Jonah’s photos here: https://www.flickr.com/photos/198162317@N05

Mousehole AFC have a regular slot on this podcast which takes a look across the country at non-league football. Listen to the latest episode here (Andrew LArge from Mousehole starts at 1hr 9 mins in):

https://twitter.com/i/broadcasts/1ynJOyEXYEQKR

We asked Truro College media student Nick Hall to take a look behind the scenes as Mousehole took on Bashley in the FA Cup on September 2nd. Here’s his video in what we hope will be the first in a series of Trungle Timelines.

Mousehole Football Club is looking to make strides towards enhancing its facilities and contributing to the community with an ambitious plan to construct a new access road to their Trungle Parc ground, which is situated just outside the village of Paul on the hill above Mousehole Harbour. The plan, first announced in 2021, will be largely financed by a crowdfunding campaign to be launched this autumn.

The new access roadway, for which the club already possesses planning permission, will connect the B3315 near Sheffield directly to the football ground and the campsite it operates. The Club has undertaken preparatory work along the route under the guidance of experts and in compliance with all planning conditions. This includes a thorough assessment of a suitable drainage scheme to ensure there is no increase in water run-off.

The access road will terminate as a cul-de-sac at the Club’s ground, making it impossible for it to become a ‘rat run’ into the village. Instead, the new access road is poised to bring numerous benefits to both the residents of Paul and the football club.

A primary advantage of the new road is that it will divert all the current football and camping traffic away from the village of Paul, alleviating congestion in the lane from the Ring & Thimble junction into the village. The new road access will also make the club’s car park bigger with defined car spaces for another 40 cars, 3 coach spaces and a cycle hub. In this respect, it will eliminate the need for overflow street-side parking in Trungle Parc and Trungle Terrace, addressing concerns about parking issues.

Club Chairman Deryk Heywood remembers the road being discussed when he played for the club in 1978 and has been working on the plan since he became chairman six years ago. The strip of land has been gifted to the club through the generosity of the neighbouring landowner and full planning permission has now been obtained. 

As well as directly benefitting the club, Deryk believes the additional access and parking the new road will bring will provide much-needed extra capacity for village events, as well as providing enhanced facilities at the club for the community to use: 

“The road will help bring the club to another level commercially and keep all the traffic away from the village. We are part of the community along with the cricket club, the pub, the church. We want to improve life for the community by drastically reducing the traffic flow”.

To put the traffic and parking concerns into perspective, home matches for the club’s First Team occur on average once every fortnight for eight months of the year, with the season comprising approximately 20 matches from August to April. The club’s attendances have averaged around 200 over the most recent season. The club’s move to the Southern League means visiting teams and their away supporters are now located much farther away than before. Consequently, the likelihood of individual vehicles increasing is minimal.

In addition to the new road, the club will be exploring better ways of managing its sewage and water supply and are investigating hooking up to the mains supply.

As a non-profit organization, Mousehole Football Club is committed to adhering to all planning rules and regulations and will continue to do so. The Club’s vision is not only to secure its future but also to create opportunities and foster a strong sense of community within the village of Paul.

Considerable expense has already been outlaid by the club to ensure the plans meet all requisite regulations and standards. The club are now exploring crowdfunding opportunities for the project and details will be released later this year.