'Ards are coming home': Football club scores planning victory in decades-long battle for new grounds
A football club left without a grounds for a quarter of a century has scored a planning victory that could at last see it in a dream new home.
In 1998 Ards FC was forced to sell Castlereagh Park, the grounds it had called home for most of the 20th century, to pay off crippling debts.
This century, the NIFL Championship side has led a nomadic existence – frequently forced to hold its matches in the home grounds of traditional rivals Bangor FC.
Last year the Northern Ireland Football Fund rejected their bid for over £8m, meant to pay for a new stadium.
Last night the Co Down club at long last got good news, as plans for new grounds were unanimously approved by their local council.
In a statement on social media, jubilant officials said: “For a quarter of a century, this club has carried its name with pride across Northern Ireland, waiting for the day we could finally come home. That day is now closer than ever.
“This is for every player who wore the shirt without a home stadium behind them; for every supporter who travelled, believed, and never gave up; for every volunteer who kept the heart of this club beating.
“The journey isn’t over, but last night was a huge step forward. Ards are coming home.”
The club intends to build a 2,000-capacity facility boasting two spectator stands and an artificial pitch.
Officials have previously stated that, after the football fund’s rejection, they hope to use “local funding, private investing and many avenues” to pay for their new stadium, adding that planning permission is the key to unlocking that cash.