Published Date:
04 February 2010
By Dave Burke
Reporter
A village football club has claimed it may be forced to move away from its home in a row over escalating costs.
Aston Clinton FC, who are riding high in the league and firing in three cup competitions, have threatened to move out as relations with the parish council deteriorate.
Both parties are set for showdown talks in the next three weeks to decide whether the club will stay or go.
Aston Clinton's fuming chairman, Mark Foster, told The Bucks Herald this week: "After 118 years in the village, we feel we're being ousted.
"At the moment we're paying to use the pitch, we have to set it all up, clear up after the games and get the changing rooms cleaned.
"If you're paying for a facility, you'd expect all that to be included in the fee."
The club currently pays £35 a game, and Foster said it costs an extra £20 to have the changing rooms cleaned each week.
He said that a fresh dispute over insurance costs has soured relations with the parish council.
Foster fumed that the cost of staging games, which attract between 30 and 60 spectators, has forced the club to start considering groundsharing with other teams outside the village.
He said: "We don't want to leave the village, but if that's got to happen then it's got to happen.
"It would be a real shame, because we've got such a long history here.
"They're just trying to screw more money out of us to play football.
For the full story see this week's Bucks Herald, out now.
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Last Updated:
04 February 2010 3:25 PM
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Source:
n/a
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Location:
Aylesbury