Chasetown 2

CHASETOWN – BIGGEST BATTLE LOOMING

12-12-2007

After last night’s historic FA Cup win against Port Vale, Chasetown FC are facing up to another vital battle – and it’s not against their 3rd Round opponents Cardiff City. They’ve got an even more important clash looming with Lichfield Council’s planning department.

Having brought pride to the West Midlands as the lowest placed club ever to reach Round Three, The Scholars are poised to expand. The fact that they reached the First Round of the FA Cup two years ago proves this is no fluke, and with suport growing, they need a bigger stadium.

Nothing too fancy mind – even in the long term, they don’t envisage a ground holding more than 4,000 people.

It would be integrated into a sports village for the cluster of ex-mining towns on the northern brow of Birmingham that make up the district of Burntwood – Burntwood itself, Chasetown, Chase Terrace and Boney Hay.

It would give a home to Burntwood rugby club, provide facilities for a local college, offer a new community centre cum social club, and – crucially – allow the footy team to expand beyond its current 2,000 capacity.

As local councillor Paul Atkins explains, “if they get promoted with their current ground, they wouldn’t be allowed to go up.”

And that would almost inevitably mean the break-up of a hugely talented squad, brilliantly managed by Charlie Blakemore.

The sticking point is that The Scholars current School Road ground is in green belt, making it problematic to develop even a small grandstand with a capacity of 400 seats – which is what they need to progress to the next level.

Discussions are now underway with Lichfield to see how flexible the Council is, but as Atkins says, “The irony is that they drove the local by-pass right through the green belt, yet although the club is only two metres inside, we can’t put a stand up.”

An alternative is to move to another site nearby, partly owned by Lichfield District Council, but in Atkins view “the club would prefer to stay as they are.”

It would be ironic if the organic growth of an authentic grass roots clubs were to be stymied by planning laws designed to protect a community which could so clearly benefit from it.