Glovers' goal is to secure deal for store

By Western Gazette - North Dorset | Thursday, December 01, 2011, 08:00

YEOVIL Town Football Club hopes to secure a lucrative deal with a major supermarket company as part of its plans to build a store at its ground, which could create 300 jobs.

FANS CONSULTED: Hayley Wright and Stephen France examine the plans for a superstore to be built on Yeovil Town Football Club's base. Pictures by Jennie Banks WGJB20111127D
IN CONTEXT: How the store and car park would look next to the main pitch, pictured at the bottom of the image.
INVESTMENT NEEDED: Club director David Lee and chairman John Fry. Mr Fry said the store could attract a new supermarket company to Yeovil which was something "the town needs".
what's in store: David Trevett went along to the consultation event at Huish Park. Generally fans appreciated the need for investment for the club's prospects to grow.

The Glovers held a three-day public consultation at Huish Park last the weekend, when members of the public got their first glimpse of plans designed to safeguard the long-term future of the club.

In partnership with Plymouth-based CDS International, the npower League One club hopes to build a 70,000sq ft store on sub-standard training pitches to the north of the site. It would be larger than the nearby Asda store, which is believed to cover 55,000sq ft.

Yeovil chairman John Fry said the development could bring an additional 300 jobs to the town.

"We have been working on different ideas for five years and we have had interest from a superstore," he said.

"At the start of the year we showed plans for a retail park, but we feel a food store is much more relevant with the development going on in the surrounding area (Brimsmore keysite). We think there is a big need for it and interest has been shown already.

"With our position in the league and the economy, it is going to maintain jobs here at the football club and there could also be 300 jobs within the superstore. It could also mean a new operator coming into the town, which it needs."

Plans include 500 parking spaces and a revised road layout at the junction with Western Avenue to aid traffic flow. Capital raised by the project would go towards developing a new all-seater stand on the current terraced Copse Road End, as well as improve the 21-year-old stadium in line with criteria outlined by the Football Stadium Licensing Authority.

Pencilling in a five-year time scale for the project, Mr Fry said the development played an essential role in securing £1 million of additional revenue to ensure the club's progress.

"We need the development urgently with new Football League regulations and it will help build towards a better match day experience for the fans, better facilities for the players and, ultimately, will help give us a bigger turnover. We need more income to compete with the other clubs.

"If planning permission is refused, the future and progress of the club would be put at serious risk."