WORCESTER City’s Aggborough future appears to be in doubt after it emerged the Conference North club has held talks with various clubs over a ground-share deal.
The Blue and Whites have plied their trade in Kidderminster for the past two seasons, after ending their 108-year stay at St George’s Lane, but a statement from City bosses admitted they ‘have a responsibility to manage the finances and ensure the club remains viable in the future’.
Worcester have been offered a further two-year extension to remain at the Conference Premier stadium, but Director Colin Layland said if they do stay at Aggborough it is likely only the main stand would be open on matchdays.
“We will have to consider which parts of the ground we use on match days because of the cost of opening three sides of the stadium,” he said in Saturday’s programme notes.
“Except for games that have to be segregated it is likely we will open open the main stand as this area has been sufficient to house the number of supporters at the majority of home games this season.”
Two clubs who confirmed they had held talks with Worcester were Evesham United and Bromsgrove Sporting.
Jim Cockerton, chairman of Evesham United, told The Observer: “We have had Anthony Hampson (chairman) come over, we have put something to them and they can save an awful lot of money if they came here.
“Anthony was very impressed with our facilities, he was over the moon as it is brand new. To be paying what they are paying at Aggborough is nonsense, but that is up to them.
“We have made an offer and we will need a decision pretty quickly as we need to know what we are going to do.”
John Teece, chairman of Bromsgrove Sporting, added: “They have done an inspection and the ground is okay for them.
“It would mean our place would be used every Saturday instead of every other Saturday and we would have to move some junior games away from the ground, but it would be very useful in terms of contributing funds.
“We could exist without it, but it would put us in a very strong position to have it.”
Worcester did confirm the ground-share was only a short-term solution until their bid to build a community stadium at Perdiswell is passed through.
Jim O’Toole, chief executive of Worcester Warriors, said: “There has been no contact with Worcester City about a potential ground share and we wish them all the best in their search for a new home.”
John Jordan, Worcester City company secretary, added: “We have had some discussions [with Evesham and Bromsgrove] so we fully appreciate the facilities available and any work which would need to be carried out as well as outline terms should we decide to take up any offer.
“The club has not officially approached Redditch United over a possible ground share. We are currently evaluating our options and hope to make an announcement shortly.”
