Meanwhile At Truro FC

[JeremyJacobs]

Truro FC Ground go-ahead

[Ian_Sanderson]

and here

Blue Square North club Nuneaton Borough's footballing journey could come to a tearful end at the town hall.

 

If Nuneaton and Bedworth Borough councillors demand a payment of £580,000, the highest fee suggested to compensate the lifting of the covenant at Manor Park, the club will go into administration and its very existence will hang in the balance.

 

The protracted debate regarding the covenant placed on the club's former home is likely to reach its conclusion on Friday night - and the message is clear to supporters` old and new – “show your support and let the councillors know how much the club means to the town.”

 

Nuneaton Borough has submitted an offer to the council to pay £100,000 up front upon the release of the covenant, to be followed by £150,000, paid in £30,000 annual instalments over the next five years.

 

This offer has been recommended by the council's officers, but even this agreement could jeopardise Boro's long-term future.

 

A source from inside the club said: "The funds we need to generate facilities like the 3G pitch will be seriously jeopardised if we have to pay this amount to the council.

 

"Our message is clear, we can give so much back to the town if the council just lifts this covenant.

 

"Creating facilities like a 3G pitch are key to our long term plan to bring money into the club, because no football club can survive these days without generating other methods of income.

 

"We estimate having a 3G pitch could help us generate £100,000 a year, and it will benefit the whole community, because there isn't another facility like it in the town at the moment."

 

Local rivals Hinckley United's Marston's Stadium complex boasts a state of the art 3G pitch which was partially funded by the Hinckley & Bosworth Borough Council.

 

And insiders at Nuneaton Borough are hoping for the same kind of support, they added: "There are examples up and down the country of how local borough councils have supported their football club, all we are asking is for ours to do the same.

 

"When Coventry Rugby Club moved to the Butts Stadium they received help from Coventry City Council, and they practically own half of the Ricoh Arena which helped Coventry City move from Highfield Road.

 

"It's ironic that in 2004 the council approached us with a view to building a 3G pitch, now it is them who may stand in our way of creating one."

 

Money which would become available to Borough should the covenant be lifted in its entirety will effectively be doubled thanks to match funding from the Football Foundation.

 

However on the same token, if the money does not become available, funding to complete projects such as the 3G pitch, the ITC suite and the building of the East Stand will be placed in jeopardy.

 

Since last November's public meeting, Borough has exploded into life within the local community, with dozens of schools benefiting from coaching sessions ran by club secretary Graham Wilson, ex-striker Duane Darby and many other qualified coaches.

 

Over thirty junior, women's and mens teams will play in the distinctive blue and white stripes of the Borough next season, but only if financial security can be gained tomorrow tonight.

 

"Nuneaton Borough Football Club will explode across the town next season, it is all in place and things are going to get massive," added the source.

 

"We've created links with Whitestone and they will all be playing for the club, and they have all got season tickets, the whole community really will miss out if the covenant issue isn't settled in our favour."

 

In recent years the football club has helped put Nuneaton firmly on the map, the FA Cup heroics of eighteen months ago were splashed across the back pages of virtually all national newspapers.

 

The resulting replay saw more than fifty coach loads of supporters depart for a midweek journey north to Middlesbrough, where an estimated 6,000 supporters brought the Riverside Stadium to life.

 

It still stands as the biggest away contingent the Premiership big spenders have ever housed at their 32,000-seater home.

 

But less than two years on, the club stands at the crossroads once more, only this time the story could contain a devastating final chapter.