FC United of Manchester FC United of Manchester FC United of Manchester Badge FC United of Manchester Pitch In

Ten Acres Lane Feedback and Drawings

We would like to thank members for their feedback on the plans for Ten Acres Lane and apologise for the length of time it has taken us to respond to questions but the demands of the planning application have meant we needed to concentrate our efforts if we are to meet the deadline of Friday 10th September and the Council’s November Planning Committee.

The answers to members’ questions are now on the members’ section of the site. The 3D elevations of the ground proposals were on display at Stalybridge for the game against Matlock and can be seen below.

All the feedback we have received has been considered and where possible included in the plans, any items not in this initial development can be included at a later date.

As we have stated previously there are three major considerations:

1. The size of the site
2. The need to get a ground of our own to enable the club to become sustainable and achieve our ambitions
3. The available funds and the cost of the build

After extensive site searches across Greater Manchester the board is firmly of the belief that this is the right location for the club, the site is tight and smaller than we would like but it presents a great opportunity for us in partnership with the City Council.

We have planned for a £3.5M budget and have worked hard to put together a funding package to make this possible, the change of Government and continuing economic uncertainty have stretched those plans and caused us to re-evaluate them but we believe that with members’ determination they are achievable.

There is provision for us to borrow money from financial institutions but the board believes that the Community Share initiative is a better option and presents a trailblazing and exciting prospect for us.

Click for more information on Community Shares


Almost £400k has been pledged by supporters already and if we are successful similar schemes may provide a template for other football supporters to gain a major say in the running of their clubs. The response to the Development Fund has been fantastic and is pushing £300k but we need it to get to £500k before we can commit to building the ground.

We have made huge strides over the last few short years but there is a long way to go yet.

The support from the council has been instrumental in getting this far so quickly and the response from Newton Heath residents has been extremely positive.

Any football ground has to work on a matchday but this site is more than a football ground. We are looking to develop the site as a centre of our community work in Newton Heath and as a bricks and mortar statement that FC United is a different kind of football club with ambitions both on and off the field. As important as a matchday is to those plans the site needs to work for 365 days a year and not just for the thirty odd days that we play matches.

We need to get to Ten Acres Lane as soon as possible we are hopeful that these plans will gain planning approval and we have a strong business plan for the site which will generate enough income to sustain the club through the immediate future and provide funds for future developments.

We remain resolute in our belief that football and its clubs should be owned and controlled by the people who care about the game and not by speculators and outside interests but we need to show that it can be done if we are to win that argument, Ten Acres Lane is another brick in the wall and a huge blow to those who said it could not be done.


HASTA VICTORIA SIEMPRE

FORZA FCUM


View 1


View 2


View 3


Aerial Sketch Base Stadium (Click image to download PDF)


Proposed Club House Ground Floor Plan (Click image to download PDF)


Proposed Club House First Floor Plan - Alternative Option 2 (Click image to download PDF)


Site Layout (Click image to download PDF)




First Posted ~ 12:55 Wed 16 Feb 2011
News ID ~ 3073
Last Updated ~ 01:52 Tue 16 Feb 2021