BARROW AFC hope work on their new floodlights will start in the coming days as they push the replacement process through.

The club are taking down their 1960s pylons and replacing them with new stanchions after repair work to the existing structures proved unfeasible.

Several contractors have already been in to look at the work required – with repairs to the main stand and the installation of a new boiler also due to be undertaken – and the Bluebirds are hopeful the 2016/17 season will suffer only minimal disruption.

The cost of the project for all the work at the stadium is set to break into six figures, with several options at part-funding being investigated.

Chief executive Austin Straker said the club were waiting for the go-ahead from the Football Stadia Improvement Scheme – who could potentially fund as much as 50 per cent of the work – before starting.

“We've had four companies involved so far and we've sent our application off to the FSIS,” he said. “They have to give us the go-ahead to begin the work. We're good to go, but we need their permission, otherwise they won't offer funding for anything retrospectively.

“They will recognise that we intend to start the works, even though they haven't confirmed if they will give us the money. If they decide not to, we're on our won, but if we don't put this in, there is no chance of it. I'd say it's 99 per cent certain that money will come in. The scheme that exists will go up to 50 per cent of the costs.

“There is work on the lights, the stand, the boiler, but you have to wait to start or face getting no money. Everyone is lined up to start as soon as we get the nod.”

Owner Paul Casson is hopeful funding for the lights will be forthcoming, with the club also looking to see if there is money available from the FSIS to carry out other work on the ground.

He said: “The fund can give you up to £400,000 to match what you have and you can spend it as quickly as you want, but once you have, you can't go back for five years.

“As we plan to be promoted, we want to apply for the money as soon as possible. There are rules over what it can be spent on, but the general idea is to match your own ground funding.”

Work is set to carry on into the National League season, which begins on Saturday, August 6.

The delay to the start has been caused as a result of Barrow having to abandon their initial plans to renovate the existing floodlights due to the poor state of the structures.

“I looked at the situation 15 ways from Sunday,” said Casson. “I was even going to fly some people over from here to take a look at them.

“But we had a drone to fly around them and take pictures at the top to get a good sense of how bad they are. While they're probably okay in the very short-term, as a long-term proposition for the next 20 years, they aren't up to it.

“It's a question of getting new ones or putting in £100,000 just to keep the old ones going for five years. We decided to go ahead and get new ones rather than mess around.”

One of the four pylons, which was replaced and refurbished to install a still operational mobile phone mast several years ago, will stay standing, but will no longer operate as illumination.

“We can do the stand and the boiler before the pre-season, but the lights may overlap the start of the season, in which case we would have to be in discussion over fixtures,” Straker added.

“Timescale will be a major issue over which contractor we go with, but it should only be a couple of weeks into the season – though you can't predict what unforeseen things will be found when we start digging down into the earth.”

The new Barrow AFC shirts are on sale at the club shop, at Holker Street. Both home and away strips, as will be worn by the club next season, are available.