Dudley Council to debate Stourbridge football club crisis
Dudley Council is set to debate the crisis at Stourbridge FC’s Amblecote home which was facing the threat of closure.
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The club and Stourbridge Cricket Club are based at the War Memorial Athletic Ground on High Street, Amblecote.
One end of the ground is sited at the top of an embankment which is deteriorating and in March the football club issued a statement saying at the end of the season one of their stands and some sets of floodlights would have to be demolished due to safety fears.
At its next scheduled meeting, Dudley Council will discuss a motion from Cllr Peter Drake calling on the authority to do all it can to help the troubled club.
Cllr Drake’s motion said: “The structural changes needed to make the War Memorial Athletic Ground fully health and safety compliant are expected to be expensive and lengthy.
“All parties (including the football club, cricket club, local authority and Football Association) are working to find solutions.
“We do not want the situation repeated whereby Dudley Town FC lost their ground and have spent many decades in search of a new home.”
Stourbridge FC had already been restricting the number of tickets it could sell due as a result of the crumbling earthworks.
Their final home game on April 21 appeared set to be the last at the historic ground but shortly after the game supporters got some good news.
A club statement released on social media said: “Following a meeting between the FA and the Southern League, we have received dispensation that confirms we will be allowed to play at The War Memorial Athletic Ground next season!
“We hope this will give us the required time to complete the works required to secure the future of the ground.”
The eleventh-hour reprieve will sharpen the debate at the council meeting on April 28 where Cllr Drake is calling for the council to promise to explore ways to help the club, nicknamed The Glassboys, as well as set up a cross-party working group to look at problems affecting sports clubs across the borough.
Cllr Drake said: “Many of our region’s sports teams do not have home grounds or have difficulties in finding facilities.
“This is a handicap on their sporting progress, financial stability and the nurturing of their fanbases. Our local sports fans deserve better. The Glassboys deserve better.”
