Fans react with dismay as Stourbridge face turmoil over War Memorial Ground
Football fans in Stourbridge have reacted with dismay at the news the town's football club may have to re-locate next season if their ground doesn't meet the required standard.
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Stourbridge FC have confirmed the last game of the season on April 21 will be the last one in which the War Memorial Ground will exist in 'its present guise".
A statement said the club - which will celebrate 150 years of football next year - forecast an "extremely costly" and "stressful" period ahead as they decide what to do with the ground where they have played since 1888 and where superstar Jude Bellingham played as a youngster.
Stourbridge have been told their existing floodlights and some stands must be taken down following the final home fixture of the current campaign, against Bromsgrove Sporting.
Weeks of negotiations with landlords Dudley Council and surveyors have come to the conclusion that floodlights and stands are situated too closely to the banks which surround the War Memorial Ground and are in danger of subsidence.
Houses are being built behind the popular Shed End stand and it is thought this is one of the stands at risk. A standing enclosure next to it is already off-limit to spectators at home games. Members were told the news at the club's AGM on Thursday (March 27).
