“Desperate times call for desperate measures” says the manager of Sidbury AFC as the club’s struggling finances mean they cannot buy a vital new mower.

The club launched a crowdfunding page on Wednesday to help raise £3,500 for the machine, after their old one - which the club had owned for 15 years - packed up.

Team manager Jeremy Schofield says that having no mower would affect everyone who uses the field, opposite Sidford Village Hall.

He said: “If every person in Sidmouth gave £1, it would be easy. It isn’t just us that use the grass; we have Sidmouth under-14s and under-15s, as well as dog walkers. If we cannot maintain the grass and play, then it is a detriment to everyone.”

The club needs a sit-on mower which can collect a lot of grass cuttings, as Jeremy says if he used a standard lawn mower to cut the pitch, it would take up to five hours.

The 33-year-old said: “The old mower just gave up life, so we started the fund. With the weather as it is, sun then rain, the grass is growing very quickly - it needs a cut a week.”

The Higher Brook Meadow resident says the club needs to raise a minimum of £1,500 for a second-hand mower or £3,500 for a new one.

Jeremy said: “It couldn’t have come at a worse time. We have tried to apply for grants from the council and we have tried the Football Association, but that would take between six and nine months. We just about survive financially from season to season, but we haven’t been playing for two months so we haven’t any capital.”

To help with the appeal, visit http://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/mower-appeal-1