Newbury FC Barred from Home Matches Due to Inadequate Changing Facilities

A football club has been informed it cannot host home matches because its changing rooms are undersized. Newbury FC returned to the council-owned Faraday Road ground on November 9, six years after its eviction in anticipation of potential redevelopment work. However, West Berkshire Council has been notified that the changing rooms do not meet the standards mandated by the Thames Valley Premier League, meaning the team can only utilize the site for training purposes. A spokesperson for the council stated that the team “remain delighted” to be back at their home ground and expressed their aim to complete the necessary adjustments by December 7. The club was initially evicted from Faraday Road in 2018 when the then-Conservative-led council announced its intention to use the site for the redevelopment of the London Road Industrial Estate. The site subsequently fell into disrepair, with the majority of it being destroyed in an arson attack three years later. The Liberal Democrats pledged to facilitate Newbury FC’s return to Faraday Road upon taking control of the authority in 2023. Nigel Foot, the councillor overseeing sporting facilities, indicated that the council had “worked extremely hard… to get proper league football back on Faraday Road.” Nevertheless, he attributed the changing rooms’ failure to meet standards to a “breakdown in communication,” an issue that was only identified during an inspection conducted after the first match had already taken place. Despite this, Mr. Foot assured Newbury FC fans that they “should not despair.” He stated, “This is only a temporary hold-up. We have been working extremely hard since that football league inspection,” adding, “We have every confidence that Newbury FC will be playing from the 7 December back at Faraday Road.” BBC Berkshire can be followed on Facebook, X (Twitter), or Instagram. Copyright 2024 BBC. All rights reserved. The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. Information regarding our approach to external linking is available.