West Berkshire Council release Faraday Road statement, pledging to fix changing room issue

West Berkshire Council has released a statement regarding Faraday Road football ground saying they hope Newbury Football Club will be playing there again early next month.

Newbury FC are currently unable to use the ground for league fixtures, due to the changing facilities being too small for the standards of the Thames Valley Premier League.

The club was evicted from the site in 2018, before a suspected arson attack in 2021 saw the clubhouse burn down.

The facilities were officially reopened on November 9, ending six years of exile, but will now have to be altered to meet the regulations.

This has forced the club back to Henwick Playing Fields in Thatcham in recent weeks, with the council pledging to resolve the issue by early December.

It released the following today (Friday): “Earlier this month we were delighted to welcome Newbury FC back to play their first game at Faraday Road after several years.

“We’ve worked hard over the past 18 months to get things in place for the community and organised football.

“We have been made aware by the football league that the changing rooms need to be slightly larger for Newbury FC to play there in the league and we are making adjustments to the internal layouts to increase their size which will resolve this issue.

“It is our intention to have these changes made by 7th December and the team playing there again.

“The Newbury Community Football Group (NCFG) and Newbury FC remain delighted with the new facilities and the ground and look forward to their first league match back at the ground.”