Football club's 'frustrating' search for ground

Dealing with a council over plans to find a permanent ground for a non-league football club has been like “a game of snakes and ladders”, according to its chairman.

The City of Liverpool FC - known locally as the “Purps” - have been looking for a home since forming in 2015, currently sharing a ground with a rugby league team in Widnes.

The Northern Premier League club had been in talks with Liverpool City Council for an asset transfer which would see them take over the management of Rathbone Park off Edge Lane.

But club chairman Paul Manning said he received a letter this week telling him the bid had been rejected, with a council spokesperson saying the proposal did not meet council policy.

Mr Manning said the process, which has involved looking at 44 possible sites, had been very frustrating

He added: "You go up a ladder, then they kick you down a snake and then you have to start again."

A pre-planning application submission in October 2023 set out how the club intended to revitalise the derelict all-weather football pitch and adjoining community park to provide a "first-class community sporting amenity".

The proposals included an enclosed community football ground for almost 2,000 spectators with a 3G artificial grass pitch, plus associated storage, parking and access arrangements.

The council spokesperson said the club had failed to "produce a viable proposal to deliver the scheme".

Councillor William Shortall, who represents Old Swan West ward which includes the proposed site, said he had opposed the club’s bid to take over the land.

In a Facebook post he said: "I was concerned that the proposals would take away recreational space from the community, as well as causing transport problems locally."

Mr Manning said the club currently attracted between 300 to 400 fans at home games.

"This idea that thousands of fans will swamp the area is nonsense” he said, although he agreed a new stadium would undoubtedly attract larger crowds.

The site has been held for retail development as part of the fourth phase of Liverpool Shopping Park opposite that has not materialised.

The club’s community arm said it had delivered an open letter to 1,000 residents across Old Swan, setting out why it believed the ground would be good for the area.

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