I watched England play against my local team – now stadium has been left to rot, we’re in a race against time to save it

4 months ago 47

A FOOTBALL fan is leading a charge to restore an abandoned stadium where England once played.

David Brown, 52, was a child when he watched the nation’s idols play an unusual pre-tournament match at Aylesbury United‘s Buckingham Road ground in June 1988.

The stadium has been left to rot for 17 years[/caption]

A council this month heard the stadium is “dilapidated overgrown and has been subject to some anti-social behaviour”[/caption]

England played Aylesbury United in 1988 in front of thousands of cheering fans[/caption]

Gary Lineker, Peter Beardsley and Stuart Pearce were among the England stars on show as Bobby Robson’s side ran out 7-0 winners.

More than 6,000 spectators were in attendance that day, but the stadium was abandoned in 2006 following a fallout with the owner.

The ground was intended to be used as a site for a new housing development, but 17 years later it remains an overgrown and graffiti-covered mess.

Damaged walls, broken fence panels and flattened seating also haunt the site once attended by hundreds of fans every week.

It has left Aylesbury United having to ground-share outside of the town for nearly two decades.

David, now a director on the board, is leading a group trying to bring football back to the town.

He told The Sun: “I have been a fan of the club since 1985 and joined the board to help try and bring it back.

“My grandad used to take me as a kid, then I grew up and moved into a house round the corner from the ground – I was able to cycle there.

“I was there when we played against England. Six thousand people went to the match and today it is still the only time and England team has played a non-league ground.

“We even nearly scored a couple of goals. We want to recreate something like that.”

The club were evicted from the ground after a fallout with the owner, who wanted to redevelop the site into housing.

Aylesbury have been living a nomadic existence since and has only avoided folding due to the strenuous efforts of volunteers.

David, a marketing director, added: “The owner wanted to build houses on the ground, but it is on a flood plain and there’s not enough access.

“The owners have done nothing with it for 17 years. It would cost several million to get the site up and running.

“We aren’t giving up hope on the ground but there’s enough land around Aylebsury for us to build something new. We want to build a complex with 4G pitches.

“We are currently having to play in Chesham and get 150 to 200 people. If we were playing in the town again then we’d expect that number to be between 500 and 1,000.”

David worries that, without a return to the town, the club could fold within the next five years.

A new planning application to redevelop the stadium into 42 houses and a new public open space was heard by Buckinghamshire Council earlier this month.

The council heard the ground is “dilapidated, overgrown and has been subject to some anti-social behaviour”, before voting to defer the matter to the Director of Planning and Environment for approval.

In a subsequent statement, Aylesbury chairman Graham Read relented and admitted the club should back the plans.

He said: “I know it’s a very sad day, but I really think we should support the application and move on.

“The old ground is now too small to accommodate our 60 plus teams – we have come a long way since 2006.

“While keeping an eye on the movements at Buckingham Road, we have searched all over Aylesbury, and had numerous meetings with various bodies to establish our needs and Bring the Ducks Home, sadly to no avail – but our persistence and patience is beginning to pay off.”

Mr Read said the club has been approached by a developer over a “new development on the edge of town”.

The new site would include a “stadium far greater than Buckingham Road” and accommodate the needs of the more than 60 teams that make up the club.

He added: “So as we bid farewell to Buckingham Road (subject to the approval of the application) the future looks positive. I’m more confident that ever that with your continued fantastic support, combined with the efforts of the current board of directors, we can deliver and Bring the Ducks Home together.”