Architect’s drawings of the project (Image: Gorlestons)
A football club without a permanent home for four years has revealed plans to build a new stadium at a cost of £4 million. Gorleston Football Club wants to return to the Gorleston Recreation Ground in Norfolk, where the team played for almost a century. The plans include an artificial 3G pitch, spectator stand, clubhouse, community centre, cafe, grass pitch and new car park.
The club is working on the project in conjunction with Great Yarmouth Borough Council, which has agreed to own the site and lease it to the club for 75 years. However, the plans still require planning permission before work can begin, and the application is expected to go to councilors in the coming months. The club, known as the Greens, has not had a home in town since leaving Emerald Park in 2022. The owners of the premises decided to convert the land into housing, forcing them to vacate and playing their home matches elsewhere.
The project also aims to bring prosperity to the region, the vice chairman said. (Image: d)
The men’s first team will play at Lowestoft Town FC in the 2022-23 season before moving to Wellesley in Great Yarmouth. Club bosses say the £4 million plan will see Gorleston FC return to its traditional home, while also creating new facilities for the wider community.
Vice-chairman Graham Hacon said the plan was about more than football.
He said: “The misconception is that this is all about football. Instead, it’s about having a community hub in the heart of one of Gorleston’s most deprived areas.”
“Moving there means giving something back to the community we have served for over 100 years.”
The club said the new location would provide more space for young players and local residents, as well as giving supporters a proper home ground again.
However, the plans are divisive locally, with some neighbors raising concerns that the development will reduce public green space, increase noise and worsen parking, the BBC reports.
“This is our community park, it’s our city park, and it’s important to us. I feel like we as a community don’t really engage with what’s going on here,” said Chrissy Harris, an activist and member of a group opposing the plan.
She said the group was not against soccer, but wanted other park users to be considerate.
Great Yarmouth First District Councilor Barry Gravenell, from Gorleston, said he supported the club’s return but believed there needed to be balance in the plan.
“I fully support building a stadium here, but I don’t think it’s a good idea to take up so much of the recreation ground,” he said.
He also warned that parking in the area was already a “nightmare”.
However, Conservative cabinet member for growth Daniel Candon supported the project, saying Gorleston FC had deep ties to the town and should be based there.
He added: “There’s also a great community aspect to having facilities like this available to the local and wider community.”
