Hallen FC v Tin Pot Local Politicians

So, what do you know about Hallen Football Club? You may have heard that the club is being evicted by Almondsbury Parish Council from its Moorhouse Lane ground and has given its intention to fold. Ah well, you might think. It’s only a football club. Times are tough and we all have to cut our cloth. We’re all in it together, as someone said. But hang on: just a football club? Taken from their website, this is what Hallen will lose:

Hallen’s First Team, playing in the Toolstation Premier Division.
Hallen Reserves
Hallen Juniors (Under 6’s, 7’s, 8’s, 9’s & 15’s).
Saturday morning church football,
2 x Sunday football teams
2 x Hallen cricket teams
4 x Skittles teams.
Bristol Rovers Academy who have used the ground to train and play their home matches this season will also need to relocate.
The residents of Hallen Village will lose their Community Centre where the Village Committee meet and host activities such as the Autumn Club and Horticultural Show.

Not “just a football team”, is it? How about essential hub within the community?

A year ago, Hallen’s annual rent was increased to £12,000 a year for a facility which is run and maintained entirely by volunteers. For the 2015/16 season, Almondsbury Parish Council, which is sitting on cash reserves of £1.8 million, told Hallen FC they would need to take on the full cost of the Hallen Centre and write a blank cheque of at least £20,000. They cannot afford this and have had to take the heartbreaking decision to fold the club.

The club has proposed numerous solutions to the problem but they have all been denied to them. The council was even asked if they would allow the club to lease the pitches only but that was turned down. This is a club that has been in existence for 40 years and thanks to the efforts of volunteers has progressed from being a ploughed field to a Southern League ground. But with all that money in the bank, what do you think was Almondsbury Parish Council’s response? They have used a wedge of it to employ a high-profile solicitor to evict the football club.

This is a wrong that has to be righted. If the club is allowed to fade and die, what will happen to the hundreds of going people who use the facility? Look around your neighbourhood and that are youngsters who are hanging round street corners, smoking weed and vandalising property. Do you, Almondsbury Parish Council, think it would be better to encourage young people to play sport or would you rather they slipped into a life of drug-taking and petty crime? If you think the latter, I urge you to have a long, hard look in the mirror and ask what the hell you are doing as a councillor. May I remind you that you are in your positions of power in order to represent people. You should be encouraging people to play sport. In case you had not noticed, we live in an era where obesity threatens the very fabric of our society, as does lack of exercise.

I know the club well and I have friends who have played for the club in a number of different eras. Like me, they will be horrified at the actions of a handful of tin pot politicians who are holding a gun to the head of a vital part of the community. Put simply, they must be defeated and Hallen FC should be afforded extra support, including financial support, because of what they provide for the community.

And the councillors of Almondsbury should collectively hold their heads in deep shame.