FC United a Step Nearer [Club Statement]

Supporter-owned football club FC United of Manchester’s plans to build a new football ground and community sports facility in Moston, north Manchester moved a step closer today, after the club and Manchester City Council announced that planning permission for the site is now active and that work is scheduled to start by the autumn. This follows the signing of agreements which enshrine community use of the proposed new facility which will house the club’s new home.

The agreements underpin FC United’s existing commitments to deliver genuine community benefit at the proposed site in Moston, including working with Moston Juniors Football Club to help them realise their ambitions for young people in the area. These commitments will also be enshrined in the club’s Community Share Scheme and grant agreements. “Our groundbreaking development will create a positive and lasting legacy in Moston, creating new high quality sports and non-sports facilities for the area for generations to come. In signing this agreement we are demonstrating a further statement of intent to the council and the local community,” said FC United of Manchester general manager Andy Walsh.

Commenting on the signing of the agreement, Councillor Rosa Battle, Executive Member for Culture and Leisure for Manchester City Council, said: "This scheme will spell significant social and economic benefits for Moston and North Manchester as a whole. The partnership between FC United and Moston Juniors FC, one of the largest junior football clubs in Manchester, will not only result in around £4.6 million of new investment in the area. It will also create the basis for an excellent sporting hub in North Manchester - with three pitches and a clubhouse which will all be used by the community as well as the clubs.

"On top of this, FC United will work with Moston Juniors FC and a range of other partner agencies to help increase the number of people taking part in sport in the area - helping to tackle health and other social issues. It's exciting that the new ground and other facilities will soon start to take shape," said Battle.

FC United’s Moston project had already been granted planning permission subject to the signing of a section 106 agreement. This agreement has now been signed, meaning that the planning permission is active and work is expected to start by the autumn, with the club aiming to move into their new home by the start of the 2013/14 football season.

In March, FC United announced that it had raised over £1.6m from a unique community share scheme to help fund the new facility. This continues to raise investment and in total the club will be bringing over £2m in cash to the project which is helping the club to unlock the further grant funding it needs to meet the costs of the £4.6m project.