Chairman Lee Harding says discussions are being held this week to decide how to allocate a windfall of cash on Braintree Town's pitch.

The Iron unexpectedly profited from making it into Vanarama National League play-offs last season, with a big attendance in their home semi-final against Grimsby Town and revenue from having the fixture televised.

Harding has told the Braintree and Witham Times that the money won't be spent on a lavish lifestyle in the boardroom, but will be allocated in areas to keep taking the club forward.

As the board continue deliberations over who will be the new manager to replace Danny Cowley, Harding explained that part of the money will go towards increasing the playing budget for the incoming boss, while the rest will go towards improving the pitch.

The Iron suffered with waterlogging of their playing surface last winter and several games had to be postponed, costing the club money and backing up games at the end of the campaign.

A consultant was employed to look at improvements that could help that situation and Harding said cash running into "tens of thousands of pounds" is now likely to be spent over the summer.

He said: "It was a difficult season financially last year as we lost those games over the winter, but we got through it and we then got some extra money that we hadn't budgeted for.

"We had the play-off game against Grimsby and the extra television revenue which has helped us.

"It's been a nice windfall and it won't go on Champagne in the boardroom; it will be spent back in the core of the club - in the playing budget and on the pitch.

"We are meeting with contractors this week to finalise the arrangements for the pitch.

"We're not sure exactly what will be done, but I can confirm that it will be in the tens of thousands of pounds that we are looking to spend.

"We see it as a useful investment as, although we are looking to move and the developments with the council this week have made me more positive than I have been for some time about a new stadium, we expect to be at Cressing Road for at least another two or possibly three seasons.

"We'll be looking to do work on the drainage system which should take the bulk of the water away, we'll also be looking to do work in the re-instatement of the pitch and there should also be some work done on the training pitch as well.

"It will make that a better facility for us to use.

"Had we been looking to stay at Cressing Road, I think we'd perhaps look to put a 3G (artificial) pitch in there on the training area.

"But that's not the case, although we are looking to work more closely with Braintree Town Youth as their Eastern Junior Alliance under-18s team are due to play there next season and we're keen to strengthen the ties as much as we can."