THE weather held out allowing Ramsbottom United fans to finally return to their home ground on Tuesday.

The team’s last match, which was expected to be the first on home turf since the pitch was flooded on Boxing Day, was abandoned on February 6, following even more heavy rain.

Despite the high spirits as supporters filled the stands at the start of the match, the team lost 3-0 to Skelmersdale United.

Over the past two months volunteers travelled from as far as Birmingham, working tirelessly to fundraise and get the pitch back to its usual standard.

Earlier this month a spokesman for the Football Foundation confirmed it was working with the club to ‘make facilities safe and fit for purpose again.’

Club secretary Tony Cunningham said: “There was a great atmosphere to start off with and the fans seemed excited to finally be back. But it was a fair result considering we did not play as well as we could have.

“The pitches surroundings are almost back to normal but there’s still a fair way to go.

“The volunteers work is all finished so it’s down to the big companies to sort out the rest.

“We discovered the sponsors lounge roof was damaged, so that’s another thing which will be fairly costly to sort out.

“There’s also another generator still not working and the flood lights are waiting to be fixed.

“We’re all happy to be back though and able to play at home once again.

“We’ve been in contact with the Football Foundation and they’ve been very co-operative so far.

“Hopefully they will be able to help us out financially with the last bits now.”