Council gives football stadium to fans

Wound-up Chester City Football Club was given fresh hope of rising from the ashes after its supporters were given the club's ground.

The club went under this year when it failed to pay debts to HM Revenue and Customs.

The fate of the ground was in the hands of Cheshire West and Chester Council which received business proposals from a fans' group and Danish consortium Fodbold Selsabet to take it.

The Danes and Chester Fans United presented their ideas to a panel led by the council's chief executive, Steve Robinson, which ruled in the supporters' favour.

Mr Robinson said the fans' passion and determination to involve the community were key factors in granting them a five year lease.

He said: "The Danish Consortium combined an obvious passion for English football with some very innovative ideas and financial support, both immediate and potential.

"We are extremely grateful for their very keen interest and the considerable time taken to formulate the bid and travel to the UK to present their case.

"However, it was the panel's unanimous view that Chester Fans United, were further advanced in terms of required management structure and overall ability to enter a team into whichever league is determined by the FA.

"Without doubt, their pride in club and city is unrivalled, as indeed would be the support for their proposal from the people of Chester and its surrounding area.

"It was these factors, combined with the very strong community engagement element in their case which persuaded the panel to assign the lease of Deva Stadium for five years to the CFU Board.

"CFU have promised a club 'run by the community for the community' with a multi-sport approach designed to reach all sections of our society from the young to the disadvantaged."

Mike Jones, council leader, urged Chester residents and businesses to do all they could to help develop the new team and aim to get them into FA league football within five years.