News

Beazer Homes League chiefs who have denied Gresley entry to their league have told the stunned South Derbyshire club they could never reach the required standard “on the present site”.

Club bosses today said they were “perplexed and annoyed” that this has only just come to light after ground inspections by the league in the last three years.

A statement from chairman Peter Hall said: “During this time, approximately £70,000 has been committed to ground improvements to comply with the requirements contained in the league’s Grading Standards Book, together with thousands of hours of voluntary labour.

“It now appears that these improvements have been wasted in attempting to gain admission to the Beazer Homes League.”

Hall said Rovers deplored the waste of cash when clubs “with vastly inferior facilities which do not appear to meet the required standards have been accepted in recent years”.

Reasons given by the Beazer Homes League for blocking Gresley’s promotions bid included having two seats fewer than the minimum 200, despite both having been temporarily removed for maintenance, and an undated certificate on the power of the floodlights.

“Many of the reasons for refusal are considered to be minor and petty and, in some cases, even incorrect,” said Hall.

But the major bombshell for Gresley was that the Beazer ground graders said they were concerned whether “present conditions and the geography of the site” would ever fit the bill.

This could mean Rovers would face having to quit their Moat Street ground to get promoted and could have invested the “wasted” thousands in making the move.

Beazer Homes League secretary Dennis Strudwick and chairman Doug Gillard were unavailable for comment on Gresley’s statement today.