Council votes for Welshpool to Swap Grounds with Waterloo

Welshpool Town Council Recreation Committee met on Wednesday night and voted to recommend to the full council that Welshpool Town and Waterloo Rovers swap pitches to ensure Welshpool Town are able to meet the FAW Domestic Club Licensing criteria set down for participation in the Principality Welsh Premier in 2010/11.

The Town Clerk made a detailed presentation to Councillors on the situation at Maesydre and presented three scenarios.

a.) Do nothing and Welshpool Town would be unable to compete in the Welsh Premier.

b.) Swap grounds with Welshpool Rugby Club.

c.) Swap grounds with Waterloo Rovers.

All three clubs had been asked to submit their observations and Town Clerk Robert Robinson said that he had exhausted all avenues of finding an alternative site in the area for Welshpool to develop a new stadium.

Welshpool Town would need a long term lease to enable grant funding and this was not available on the current field, but is on the extension currently used by Rovers.

Councillors were united in their support for maintaining a club able to compete in the top League in Wales, but made it clear that there was no funding available from the Town Council. Welshpool FC would need to compensate Waterloo for any costs involved in the move.

Welshpool Town chairman Steve Hughes said he was extremely grateful for the hard work that had been put in by the Town Clerk in exploring all avenues for the development of the football club.

"We are also very grateful for the thoughtful consideration given by both Waterloo Rovers and Welshpool Rugby Club," he said.

"No-one, including Welshpool Town, really wants this, but to continue in the Welsh Premier League we have to meet all the ground criteria and that is not possible on our current pitch.

"We are proud to be putting Welshpool on the map and to know that the people of Welshpool and the Town Council are behind us is very heartening...If the full council give their blessing to this recommendation, we face the most exciting period in the history of Welshpool Town Football Club.

"Raising the funding and capital to enable the project to go ahead will be extremely challenging," he added.