New stadium lease and car park plan for Bilston Town FC
A historic Black Country football club is to be granted a new 35-year lease on the land where its home ground stands.
Bilston Town Community FC’s stadium in Queen Street will be the subject of a Community Asset Transfer (CAT), to be approved by the council next week. A lease was granted in 2013 for a term of 25 years at a rent of £1 a year.
A derelict piece of land adjacent to the stadium was reacquired by the council and is also set to be transferred to the club. It is hoped to turn the site, which has an estimated value of £2,000, into a car park for members and visitors.
In a report to the council’s Cabinet (Resources) Panel, Head of Assets Luke Dove said: “CATs are essentially the transfer of public land to a community
organisation such as a development trust, a community interest company or a social enterprise for less than the market value.
“This achieves a local social, economic or environmental benefit. Bilston Town Community FC’s stadium is an active sports ground comprised of a single playing pitch, spectator stands and welfare and administrative buildings.
“The club has been in existence for 128 years and has a rich history. The story of the football club is indelibly interlinked and interwoven with the social, cultural and industrial history of Bilston.”
Pat McFadden, MP for Wolverhampton South East, is honorary president of the club’s board of directors and has his offices in the town.
“Under its current management, the board has consciously and clearly recognised that the role of a football club like Bilston should and must be wider than just putting a team on the pitch on a Saturday,” added Mr Dove.
“It has therefore sought and been awarded charitable status in recognition of its wider remit as a community club. To oversee and guide this work the club has appointed a board of charity trustees.”
Bilston FC is currently seeking funding for three projects via Sport England, the Football Foundation, the Premier League Development Fund and The National Lottery.
“The projects are to install a 3G artificial pitch, to convert the adjacent land into a car park to support club growth and to improve general facilities at the club,” said Mr Dove.
“The transfer of the adjacent land and its subsequent conversion into a car park will improve safety and security in the immediate area, and replace the current overgrown site with a clean and well-maintained car park.”
Bilston FC is also in the process of setting up a membership scheme for supporters which will enable them to elect a representative to the board who will then be eligible to vote at its AGM.
Established in 1894, the club moved to Queen Street in 1919. Floodlights were installed in 1953 and were first used for a match against Wolves. A record crowd of 8,000 watched Wolves win 4-2.
