City and Reds

The announcement came at a press conference at the Lane on Thursday 4 October when the Chairman, Dave Boddy, confirmed that the club is to enter into a joint venture partnership with St Modwen Properties Ltd to develop a six thousand-capacity stadium near to junctions six and seven of the M5 motorway.

This press conference was the tangible evidence that City fans had been waiting for regarding the possibility of a new ground - the proposal to move away from St George's Lane was first suggested some 15 years ago.

Speaking to BBC Hereford and Worcester, Dave Boddy admitted that it was a relief to have finally got to this stage:

"They've been waiting patiently for this news; I know for the last two years we've been saying that there will be an announcement shortly - well, that day's finally come.

"Everybody can now look forward to a bright future for the club."

There will be those who will look at the proposal and who will then ask just why City - who currently attract an average home gate of around 800 - need a ground with a capacity of 6,000, but Dave Boddy says this is vital if the club is ever to realise its ultimate ambition of winning promotion to the Football League.

He accepts that some will laugh at this notion, but points out that they are planning a stadium for the long term future, not just for the next five to ten years:

"It's a growing city; I believe a city the size of Worcester would support a Football League club.

"The population of Worcester is around about 100,000, and I'm told that it's one of the biggest urban populations without a Football League club, so we need to be aiming for that.

"Obviously you've got to build for that."

Hard work

Among those who has done a lot of the work behind the scenes for the club is Secretary and Finance Director Brian Lancaster.

He admitted that there have been more man hours put into the proposal than he really cares to remember, but says days such as this one mean that it is all worthwhile:

"It's been a lot of hard work; it's been going on for some 15 years.

"People don't realise just what has been going on behind the scenes and just how complicated the deal is.

"But we've now come out with a deal that we think is tremendous for the football club."

St Modwen Properties Ltd will be responsible for coming up with the proposals for the enabling development that will be needed to help fund the new stadium, and they intend to submit plans to the City Council early next year.

Their new proposal is likely to feature leisure facilities and office provision - the kind of development that is less likely to lead to such clashes.

Among the interested spectators at the press conference was the City's MP, Mike Foster, and he told BBC Hereford and Worcester that, while there were bound to be concerns in the Nunnery Way and Whittington areas, he was of the view that this is a sensible move forward for both the football club and the city as a whole:

"If you look around where the Lane is now, and you see - as I do on Saturdays - what the traffic situation is like, I think that, for a huge number of residents locally, there will be a sigh of relief.

"Something that they have put up with can be lessened because we can build a football stadium that has got the parking sorted out.

"It's near the motorway and a dual carriage way and that's got to be the right place for the football club."