Club facing the axe after council U-turn over lighting (From Warrington Guardian)

Club facing the axe after council U-turn over lighting

WARRINGTON Hockey Club could fold after lighting around Broomfields Leisure Centre's all-weather pitch was deemed unacceptable.

The announcement last week represents a dramatic U-turn by the borough council who, back in September, stressed that lighting facilities were acceptable after a young footballer was injured by falling goalposts.

Now hockey club officials admit that their future is uncertain following the pitch closure in Appleton, which has left the three teams with nowhere to train.

The hockey club, with a proud history of producing top-flight Great Britain players, was forced to scrap its first team from the Northern League after being prevented from playing league matches at Broomfields and provisionally move to Sankey for competitive fixtures.

But club spokesman Martin Hawthorne told the Guardian that without a training base it would be extremely difficult to continue.

"It's been a disaster," he said.

"With no first team, we've been put back almost 10 years. We've got nowhere to train and we're suffering badly.

"Those floodlights haven't been maintained for years."

The club membership, once thriving with 120 players, has now been severely reduced to just 45.

Ian Crowe, principal health and safety adviser at the borough council, defended the Town Hall's change of stance, saying: "I felt it important to commission a more detailed review, which subsequently found that lighting was not to the recommended standards in some areas."

Council bosses say they are helping clubs relocate elsewhere, but Mr Hawthorne refuted these claims and said that the club had received no assistance.

Alison Ritchie, Head of Golden Gates Leisure, which owns the leisure centre, added: "We apologise if this has caused anyone any problems and we are aiming to rectify this problem as soon as we possibly can so that we can return to business as usual."