New home for 'Boro? (From Gazette & Herald)

New home for 'Boro?

AN ambitious scheme to build a new home for Scarborough Football Club and for its McCain Stadium to be redeveloped for housing has been revealed by the club chairman, Malcolm Reynolds.

He says talks have been held with borough council officers to bring about the building of a new stadium near Dunslow Road, Eastfield, which will also have a multi-purpose sports hall, health club, motel-style accommodation, all-weather pitches and catering facilities.

If the council's development committee gives the green light, work could start within months, and the new stadium could open by late next year, said Mr Reynolds.

The Seamer Road ground has been Scarborough FC's headquarters for over a century.

"Our plan has been approved by the Football League and the Football Association," said Mr Reynolds, who added that the club expected to come out of administration in early June. He said the club's debts of £1.5m would be cleared in stages by a new company which is being set up - Scarborough FC (Seadogs) Ltd.

"The club has been losing around £250,000 a year. We have to find new ways of increasing our income," added Mr Reynolds.

Scarborough council's chief executive, John Trebble, said: "We have had informal discussions with the club and given advice on both the possible redevelopment of the McCain Stadium and a new stadium site."

The chairman of the supporters' club, Stuart Canvin, said: "While we shall be sorry to leave Seamer Road, we are fully behind the move. These days, it is not enough to get fans through the turnstiles - a club needs much more than that to survive."

Updated: 16:01 Wednesday, May 28, 2003