By Alex Wright
Dorking Wanderers chairman and manager Marc White has ruled out the possibility that the club could be relegated from the Bostik League Premier Division for failing to meet FA ground grading requirements after delaying the opening of its new Meadowbank Stadium again this week.
Mole Valley District Council, which has funded the bulk of the £8million project, announced on Friday that Monday’s official opening has been cancelled because building work has not been completed following reports of serious health and safety concerns.
Wanderers had been given until March 31, 2018, to have a stadium which meets FA requirements for Step 3 clubs.
But with the stadium opening being delayed indefinitely, White confirmed that Meadowbank won’t be ready in time.
However, he added the club has asked the FA for dispensation, but failing that it plans to make improvements to its current Westhumble ground to meet the requirements, estimating it will cost the club “around five figures”.
Asbestos
White said: “The plan was that Meadowbank would be ready to meet the grading by March 31 this year, but now that it won’t we’ll have to upgrade Westhumble instead. We did apply for dispensation for Meadowbank from the FA for, but we don’t expect that to be granted.
“So now everything’s lined up to be implemented at Westhumble before the deadline.”
Councillor Charles Yarwood, deputy leader and executive member for assets and investment, said: “Our contractors have let us down. We had been reassured repeatedly over the past month that completion was on target and will be discussing with them what has gone wrong at this late stage. We will then release a date when we are confident that it can be delivered.
“In light of the uncertainty, Dorking Wanderers have advised us they will no longer be attempting to use the ground until the new football season starts in July.”
Having previously postponed the original opening date in August 2017 and subsequent dates for a variety of reasons including discovering a landfill site with asbestos deposits, the club has had to shelve Monday’s open day and the rearranged date for their first league game against Leatherhead on March 27, for which about 2,000 tickets have already been sold.
Development of the stadium, which will share the Meadowbank Park site with Surrey FA’s new headquarters, is already running about £1.5 million over budget.
*This article originally featured in The @NonLeaguePaper which is available every Sunday and Monday
