Council working to try and resolve football club lease issue

16 May 2024

The County Council is doing all it can to help secure the future of a Northumberland Football Club. 

Bedlington Terriers FC has secured a £600,000 loan to fund a new 3G pitch but its conditions require a new lease for the club’s ground to be signed with the council. 

Having an artificial pitch would allow the ground to be used more often by the club, which wants to increase its involvement in women’s, youth, and disability football. 

While the County Council and the Club have agreed terms for a new lease to allow the Club to secure the funding to install a new artificial pitch, the Dr Pit Park where the ground sits is held by the County Council as a Charity Trustee, which means the County Council needs the consent of the Charity Commission to grant the lease in the agreed format. 

A County Council spokesperson said: “Bedlington Terriers FC has a long and proud history going back some 75 years and we know what it means to the local community. 

“We are doing everything we can to try and resolve this. It’s a complex legal issue and we have consulted the Charity Commission on a proposed Community Use Agreement. However this is currently not acceptable to them so we’ve asked them to reconsider. 

“The Leader of the Council has personally written a letter of support and it is frustrating because if the Charity Commission agreed we could resolve the lease issue quickly. 

“In the meantime we continue to try and find a positive way forward.”