Football clubs face bills backlog

Two Newark Alliance football clubs could face paying hundreds of pounds in fees for holding training sessions on Balderton playing fields without paying.

One club, The White Swan, claim they could fold if they are made to pay a £500 charge.

The White Swan and Fernwood have held sessions on the Coronation Street pitches without paying the £50-per-session fee that Balderton Parish Council charges teams that don’t use the fields as their home ground.

The clerk, Mrs Cheryl Davison-Lyth, told an amenities committee meeting on Monday that The White Swan had been billed £500, and Fernwood £350.

However, the council will now request the clubs’ accounts to decide on a suitable fee after The White Swan said being forced to pay £500 could break them.

Mrs Davison-Lyth said the club had written to the council to say they would no longer use the pitches, and offered a token £50 payment. She said Fernwood had not been in touch.

Mrs Olga Newstead said: “Fernwood have grounds of their own and are well aware that people here have to pay. It is an insult.”

Mrs Davison-Lyth said signs had been put up informing teams of the charges.

“It is a public playing field and that is the difficulty, but if they are organised training sessions that people pay to attend then we can enforce it,” she said.

“Other teams allow their turf to recover but because of this we don’t get that.”

Some councillors said they did not want to see teams go bust.

Mr Keith Walker said: “At the end of the day we want people to be on the football pitches. I think they should pay a bit more than £50 but maybe we can get round the £500.

“We don’t want headlines saying Balderton Parish Council causes a football team to fold.”

The groundsman, Mr Jim Brown, said: “The league is getting weaker and weaker because of teams folding.

“I think they have a cheek but I don’t want to take £500 from them. That could easily send a club down and I don’t want to see that.”

Mr Walter Hurst said: “Presumably these teams charge subs for the sessions. If they say £50 is all they can afford, then let’s see some accounts.”