A PUBLIC consultation will be held tomorrow (Wednesday) to discuss whether Holsworthy Football Club should relocate to a new location on the outskirts of the town.

As previously reported, the club attended the Holsworthy Town Council meeting on November 3 and outlined the proposed move. The proposal documents have also been sent to Holsworthy Hamlets Parish Council in whose patch the potential new site is located.

Holsworthy Football Club has been in existence since 1891 and moved into Upcott Field in 1949 and this has been the home of the Magpies ever since. The facilities at the club have long since fallen behind modern standards and although they were adequate in the sixties to accommodate 11 players and a substitute the modern game requires facilities for some 20 people including 16 players, a physio and male and female officials. In addition the ground and the pitch fail the FA requirements for this level of football.

The club has special dispensation from the FA to play provided they can meet these regulations in a very short time.

The club has been looking for a new location within the confines of the town boundaries for years but to no avail. However, there is now the opportunity to move to a new site on the outskirts of the town which would allow the club to have much better facilities, complying with all the FA requirements and have capacity for other sports groups.

The facilities that could now be available are:

l A full size grass pitch with floodlights enabling the club to play in any competition for which it is eligible.

l A second full size grass pitch needed because of the number of teams playing which would cause overuse of just one pitch.

l A full size 3G pitch with floodlights which would avoid the cancellation of games due to waterlogged grass pitches.

l New changing rooms to FA requirements.

l A new clubhouse, which is a requirement of the South West Peninsular League and would allow the club to be self sufficient.

Other activities that currently take place at the Magpies/Royal British Legion (RBL) such as RBL meetings, darts, skittles and pool could all be accommodated at the new site.

A spokesperson said: “There will be many stages that we will have to go through before the new venue becomes a reality and we have started this process already.”

The next step is to have public input which is a key part of the process and so the public is invited to attend a session with club representatives in the Memorial Hall on November 24 at the coffee morning and in the evening from 7pm to 8pm where plans will be on view and questions can be asked.