Council chiefs have given the go ahead for floodlights to be installed at Medda Park in news welcomed by fans.

But members say the club requires further assistance as they are now tasked with raising around £65,000 to install the lights.

The approved plans, which came with a slight compromise on the positioning of the lights to prevent light pollution, bring Irvine Meadow one step closer to meeting the criteria to progress on to the Lowland League and the Scottish Senior Cup.

However, club officials say the council should offer more support for the project as it will benefit the larger community.

Brian Lamb, Irvine Meadow General Manager, said: “We’ve got the gofundme page which is sitting at £6,700 so it’s good that fans are showing their backing but we’re going to have to raise more money through fundraising events.

“We’re thinking of a hosting a health and wellbeing event once restrictions lift with Irvine Youth and Irvine Meadow.”

But £65,000 is a lot of money so we really need the council to give us a bit of assistance, even to see if they can finance 50 per cent of it.

“We’ve got a 2,000 person footfall so we’re probably the biggest community group in Irvine.

“Irvine is also the largest town in Ayrshire and we don’t have a football park with floodlights on it so we hope the council will back us.”

Irvine Meadow also hope a revamp of the ground will help junior teams come up the ranks quicker if they are able to train with better quality facilities.

Brian said: “Our target is to have the floodlights installed by February next year which means we’ll need the funds raised by November.

“I’m quite confident we can raise £30,000 ourselves so I’d like to show the council that the fans are backing us and that the community is fully behind us.

“There’s no reason why the likes of Irvine Vics junior team couldn’t use the facility if they needed a cup tie under floodlights. It would also benefit the Under 20 Irvine Meadow team because they don’t have anywhere in Irvine to play.

“It’s a bit embarrassing that an Irvine team needs to move outside Irvine to play.

“We’re just asking for some help from the council.”

To donate visit https://uk.gofundme.com/f/irvine-meadow-stand-floodlights-appeal