BADSHOT Lea Football Club are a step closer to finding a new permanent home after they were awarded £50,000 worth of funding from Sport England.

The club, who have been without a permanent home for the last 10 years, is one of five projects in the South East sharing more than £270,000 in the organisation's latest round of funding from the Protected Playing Fields fund.

The proposed site at Westfield Lane, Wrecclesham, is the former home of Farnham Rugby Club, but the current poor condition of the pitches means that the club will be forced to ground-share for another season, at the least.

Plans for the site include levelling and creating drainage for the current pitches and renovating the clubhouse then continuing with the erecting of a 100-seat grandstand and installing floodlights, in line with league regulations. After consulting local residents, the club also opted to include plans for extra on-site parking areas and smaller pitches for community use.

For full story, see this week's Farnham Herald.