Chasetown FC is forced to shelve ambitious scheme for £1m stand

The club, relegated last season, had previously been given permission to build a 500-seat stand, club shop, changing rooms and offices. But the project will not be launched anytime soon, said club chief executive Mike Joiner.

He said: "The project is not going ahead at this point in time.

"We've spent £100,000 on this project already over the past four or five years. The plans will be shelved for a period of time."

The club, nicknamed the Scholars, first submitted proposals to the council for a new stand in 2008 which were approved years later. It had been hoped the work would be finished no later than last summer. But Mr Joiner, who has been involved with the club for the past 50 years, said Chasetown was not keen to borrow money from the bank.

It secured three lots of funding from various sources but Mr Joiner said there was of shortfall of around 20 per cent of the total cost of the project.

He added: "We always knew there would be a shortfall.

"We don't feel that it's the right time to borrow. At this time we are holding on to our own money.

"We are not a club that wants to go bankrupt. It's about common sense and because we got relegated we do not need the facility currently. I cannot see any upturn in the economy in two or three years."

But he stressed it was not the end of the scheme, saying that in the near future the plans could be resurrected and another application submitted to the council.

The new stand would have increased the club's overall capacity to 3,100. The facility would also have included a disabled spectators' area, directors' and sponsors' boxes and conference and function room that would have been used for private parties.

The car park at the Church Street ground would also have been increased to 150 spaces from 70.

Chasetown FC play in the Northern Premier League Division One South. They were relegated from the Northern Premier League Premier Division at the end of last season.