Wivenhoe football club disappointed after pitch dispute

The Wivenhoe Wanderers Youth Football Club have been using the pitch at the Colne Community School in Church Road, Brightlingsea, for three years. 

But the team has had to move pitches, as the club was unable to secure the space for the next three months. 

Head coach Terry Knight, 43, was left disappointed as he had hoped that the club and school had built a relationship over time. 

He said: “We have been at the school for three years, and weren’t able to get the pitch for the next three months. 

Coach - Terry Knight, 43, is sad to move his team to a different pitch (Image: Terry Knight)

“It’s disappointing because we are only a club running on volunteers and we can’t pay for the full year. We were told that the pitch had been already rented out and we were too late. 

“I spoke to the club which secured the pitch, fair enough for them, but I had hoped that since we have been at the school for three years, we would have been able to book it.” 

The Wivenhoe Wanderers will use the pitch at the Stanway School, in Winstree Road, to continue their training. 

Changing the facility will come with issues for parents, Mr Knight said, meaning that not everyone will be able to continue to attend on a regular basis. 

“The parents have been very supported and reacted to the news pretty good,” he said. 

“But of course it is sad to know that some of our players won’t be able to come every week to our training sessions anymore. 

“We train every Tuesday evening, but there is only a certain period when we can run the session between school and the kids having to go to bed. 

“It’s a pretty difficult situation.” 

Additionally, the club complained about the inadequate lighting at the pitch, with only eight out of the 24 bulbs working. 

When raising the issue with the school, the club was left with a “tough” response. 

A spokesman for the Colne Community School said: "As with many community sports facilities, we use an online booking platform and another youth team had already made a regular booking for the evening slot in question. Therefore, we would always honour that booking. 

"We are pleased to note that Wivenhoe Wanderers are happy to continue to use our facilities and have now made a block booking from March 2025. 

"We thank the Wivenhoe representative for bringing to our attention the issue with goal nets and floodlighting. 

"The nets have now been repaired and a further programme of maintenance is planned for next month. 

"Installing LED floodlighting is part of our plans but there is a significant cost which would have to come out of our existing school budget. This work is scheduled to be carried out in the spring. 

"As a responsible organisation, we have notified all community groups who hire this facility and offered them the opportunity to cancel their booking and get a full refund."