A FOOTBALL team is still battling to secure a permanent home after being given notice to leave Shugborough.
Great Haywood FC is currently playing on land at the Shugborough Estate, which re-opened in March after the National Trust took over from Staffordshire County Council.
The club was given six months' notice to vacate, but thanks to efforts by Colwich Parish Council, this was extended until December.
The club wants to use The Jubilee Playing Fields (JPF) in Little Haywood, but work can't start on creating a pitch there as the council was told by a building expert the condition of the field was poor and the site "not usable for football". It followed drainage work some years previously.
Parish clerk Michael Lennon said: "The matter is with the council's solicitors and we are unable to comment further.
"The council has worked closely with the football team to secure a permanent home. The council made it clear to the team that the use of the JPF was subject to the surface being deemed playable and agreed it would welcome an application from the team for a small grant to hire a temporary home pitch in the meantime.
"The football team were very grateful for this decision and have offered to work with the council's Lengthsmen to renovate the changing room block at the JPF, and members of the club have been co-opted onto the JPF working party."
The grant application will be considered at a parish council meeting in September and if needed, the funds can pay for the use of a temporary pitch at St Peter's Primary School in Hixon.
Ben Walters, who runs Great Haywood FC, said: "Hopefully the JPF will be ready for us to use in the new year. There's not currently a pitch there but the council is working hard to get the field sorted. They've been great to us."
Last week the council received an anonymous letter, which said: "This seriously affects the stability of the club, which has the potential to leave the community without a football club whose history is over 30 years old.
"Although Colwich Parish Council's support has been vocal for the football club, it is becoming increasingly apparent that work will not commence on the Jubilee Playing Fields and that empty promises have been made."
The parish council spent £157,400 on a Muga; BMX track; skatepark, youth shelter and new footpath in 2014/2015.
The funds came from the council's reserves built up over many years.In spring 2016 the council spent £61,000 on the children's play area, which was financed by a direct charge on the precept (council tax).
