Football club left without proper changing rooms for three years

By Alex Seabrook, Local Democracy Reporter

Park Knowle Football Club

“desperately needs” better facilities in Redcatch Park but the council has so far stalled on carrying out essential maintenance work.

Park Knowle FC is coached by Mike Alden, who recently won the Unsung Hero Award at the BBC’s Sports Personality of the Year.

Bristol mayor Marvin Rees congratulated Mr Alden on winning the award, but was also urged to apologise to him and the club for “the mess” the council has left them in. The community applied to the council to carry out the work themselves, but then the application “hit a wall”.

During a Bristol City Council meeting in December, Sian Ellis-Thomas, chair of Friends of Redcatch Park, said: “The club desperately needs better facilities in Redcatch Park to accommodate the disability and girls teams. A community asset transfer has been requested for the pavilion so this can be updated, but this application has hit a wall.

“Bristol is about to be put on the national map because of Mike’s achievements. It would seem appropriate to reward his efforts by expediting the community asset transfer so we can continue to do this amazing work for our community.”

Park Knowle FC has many teams, five of which are for football players with disabilities. The pavilion in Redcatch Park is “basically a large wooden shed”, according to Knowle Councillor Gary Hopkins and the current changing rooms are substandard. The football club and Redcatch Community Garden jointly applied for a community asset transfer for the pavilion.

According to the mayor, the reason the asset transfer has taken so long is because other groups have also applied for a community asset transfer.