Kirkby football manager hits out at trust's 'shocking' decision to cease community pitch leasing

Ben Newton is the founder of Kirkby Colts football club, and has nine teams ranging from pre-school up to under thirteens, with more than 120 children currently playing for them.

They usually train at Ashfield School’s pitches from October through to April, as they need floodlights for training in the dark winter evenings.

The 41-year-old has real concerns that the trust’s decision could mean the end of many football clubs and says the lack of suitable facilities in the area is ‘a real worry’.

Ben explains: “We have been using alternative facilities during the pandemic, but had been hoping to return back to Ashfield this month, so it’s very frustrating.

"We’ve been trying to find out when we could start back for months, and wondered why we hadn’t heard anything.

"I’m really concerned about where all these teams are going to go – with Manor and Selston High also stopping leasing, that’s a lot of teams without somewhere to go."

Kirkby Colts will now need to source alternative winter training facilities at short notice for all nine of their teams, which Ben says will ‘not be easy’.

"There aren’t many facilities in the area that could work for us, especially needing 9-a-side pitches and floodlights.

"It won’t be easy to find somewhere that works for us.”

Ben has also raised concerns over the future of sport for the area, should the pitches no longer be available to the public.

"We have always had a decent standard of sports stars in the area coming up the ranks – if some teams fold, there will be less opportunity for these kids to be nurtured and it will impact the quality of athletes we get going forward.” he continued.

"Not only that, these kids will now have nothing to do at night and at weekends, and could end up sitting on their computer games not getting enough exercise, or being out causing trouble.

"It’s a shocking decision, it really is, it’s going to be a nightmare for us to sort.”

A spokesperson for the trust, said: “We have made the difficult decision having fully investigated what is required to open these facilities to the community, including the necessary staffing, health and safety legislation and considering the impact it would have on the school.

“We have not come to this decision lightly, and have reviewed facilities in the locality to ensure there are alternative recreational facilities for community use.

“We appreciate the impact this might have on some and apologise for any inconvenience this might cause, but hope people will understand the extreme pressures at this challenging time for so many organisations.

“We are committed to providing a high-quality education and work to provide as many opportunities as possible to our pupils, and we have made this decision in order to be able to keep delivering on that promise.”

Support your Chad by becoming a digital subscriber.

You will see 70 per cent fewer ads on stories, meaning faster load times and an overall enhanced user-experience.

Click here to subscribe.