100 signatures reached
To: Elmbridge Borough Council
Stop hindering Walton & Hersham Football Club
Please assist our great club which has progressed beyond all recognition since 2019 and provides focus and activities for thousands in the Elmbridge area and beyond.
Places for People that run The Excel, along with the council, are preventing deserved expansion and what should be a great driver in the area is being prevented at every step.
No terracing, no covering for supporters, no takings from the bar going to the football club, no light for night matches, no scoreboard permitted - NO HELP.
Places for People that run The Excel, along with the council, are preventing deserved expansion and what should be a great driver in the area is being prevented at every step.
No terracing, no covering for supporters, no takings from the bar going to the football club, no light for night matches, no scoreboard permitted - NO HELP.
Why is this important?
Why this matters
Walton & Hersham FC has become one of Elmbridge's biggest community success stories. Since 2019, the club has grown beyond recognition, providing football and community activities for thousands of children, families and supporters across the borough and beyond.
Yet despite this success, Places for People and Elmbridge Borough Council continue to prevent the club from making even basic improvements to The Hub.
The club has been unable to install covered spectator areas, terracing, ‘proper’ floodlights for evening matches or a scoreboard. It also receives no income from bar sales at its own stadium. These ongoing restrictions are holding back a club that is bringing enormous value to the local community.
For many local families, Walton & Hersham FC is more than just a football club. Our children play here, our friends volunteer here, and hundreds of local people attend matches every week. It has become a genuine community hub.
The first team now competes in National League South, just two promotions away from the Football League, which is an incredible achievement for a community club. Yet instead of receiving support to match that ambition, it continues to face unnecessary barriers.
Other councils actively support their local football clubs because they recognise the economic, social and community benefits they bring. Elmbridge should do the same.
We are calling on Elmbridge Borough Council and Places for People to:
1. Approve reasonable stadium improvements, including spectator terracing, covered standing areas, floodlights and a scoreboard, subject to normal planning and safety requirements.
2. Agree a fair commercial arrangement that allows Walton & Hersham FC to benefit from matchday bar and hospitality income generated at The Hub.
3. Develop a joint long-term stadium strategy with the club, setting out how The Hub can continue to serve the community while supporting the club's future ambitions.
4. Treat Walton & Hersham FC as a strategic community asset, recognising the thousands of local people who benefit from its youth, women's, grassroots and senior football programmes.
Walton & Hersham FC has demonstrated what can be achieved through ambition, volunteers and community spirit. It is now time for the organisations responsible for The Hub to match that ambition by working with the club, not against it, to secure a thriving future for football in Elmbridge.
Walton & Hersham FC has become one of Elmbridge's biggest community success stories. Since 2019, the club has grown beyond recognition, providing football and community activities for thousands of children, families and supporters across the borough and beyond.
Yet despite this success, Places for People and Elmbridge Borough Council continue to prevent the club from making even basic improvements to The Hub.
The club has been unable to install covered spectator areas, terracing, ‘proper’ floodlights for evening matches or a scoreboard. It also receives no income from bar sales at its own stadium. These ongoing restrictions are holding back a club that is bringing enormous value to the local community.
For many local families, Walton & Hersham FC is more than just a football club. Our children play here, our friends volunteer here, and hundreds of local people attend matches every week. It has become a genuine community hub.
The first team now competes in National League South, just two promotions away from the Football League, which is an incredible achievement for a community club. Yet instead of receiving support to match that ambition, it continues to face unnecessary barriers.
Other councils actively support their local football clubs because they recognise the economic, social and community benefits they bring. Elmbridge should do the same.
We are calling on Elmbridge Borough Council and Places for People to:
1. Approve reasonable stadium improvements, including spectator terracing, covered standing areas, floodlights and a scoreboard, subject to normal planning and safety requirements.
2. Agree a fair commercial arrangement that allows Walton & Hersham FC to benefit from matchday bar and hospitality income generated at The Hub.
3. Develop a joint long-term stadium strategy with the club, setting out how The Hub can continue to serve the community while supporting the club's future ambitions.
4. Treat Walton & Hersham FC as a strategic community asset, recognising the thousands of local people who benefit from its youth, women's, grassroots and senior football programmes.
Walton & Hersham FC has demonstrated what can be achieved through ambition, volunteers and community spirit. It is now time for the organisations responsible for The Hub to match that ambition by working with the club, not against it, to secure a thriving future for football in Elmbridge.
