A SUFFOLK football team which this year notched its best FA Cup run in 40 years is set to get a brand new 5,000-capacity community stadium.

Laurence Cawley

A SUFFOLK football team which this year notched its best FA Cup run in 40 years is set to get a brand new 5,000-capacity community stadium.

Bury Town Football Club, which reached the first round of this year's FA Cup, is looking to move from its current home at Ram Meadow to a new base in Moreton Hall.

Although the project is at an early stage, council leaders have suggested the existing Ram Meadow site could be used for parking or as a park and ride facility.

Russell Ward, chairman of Bury Town Football Club, said the club had been looking to move to a new facility for the past seven years but real progress had only been made in the last three weeks.

“It is something we are really excited about,” he said. “The main thing is that one of the pitches would be an all-weather pitch and we would be able to train at the facility rather than having to go elsewhere.

“This will be for the community and Moreton Hall as well. Ram Meadow has a 3,500 capacity but 5,000 would be adequate for is in the next 15 years.”

Next Wednesday, St Edmundsbury Borough Council will discuss the idea of giving the club £1million towards the £2million project.

The rest of the cash would come from the Football Foundation and other sources.

The project involves creating two floodlit pitches, a clubhouse and changing and stadium facilities.

Lynsey Alexander, portfolio holder for culture and sport at St Edmundsbury, said: “Cabinet backing for this project will again underline our commitment to improving the wellbeing of our community by investing in facilities for sport and exercise.

“The cabinet's discussions on this subject promise to be extremely interesting and we are delighted that we will be looking into the possibility of working with Bury Town Football Club in the future.”

She said the existing Ram Meadow site was on a floodplain which meant it was unlikely to be suitable for new housing.

“It is a flexible site though it is limited in terms of housing. It could make a good new car park or a park and ride. There are all sorts of things it could be used for.

“The new community project would also cater for young teams and girl teams - it is very early days and we are excited by the potential.”