HALLEN’S well-loved football club has announced it will have to fold after being told they have to leave their current home by Almondsbury Parish Council at the end of the month.

Toolstation Premier Division side Hallen Football Club announced in a statement that they had been evicted from their Moorhouse Lane ground resulting in the closure of a number of other sports teams which use the site.

In the statement the club say that they “feel very hard done by” having been evicted from the site they’ve used for the past 40 years.

“The decision by Almondsbury Parish Council to close The Hallen Centre will not only affect our first team, playing in the Toolstation Premier Division and our Reserves, it will also mean the end of our thriving Hallen Juniors (Under 6s, 7s, 8s, 9s and 15s).

The ground is also used by cricket and skittle teams.

“As well as the football the residents of Hallen Village will lose their community centre where the village committee meet and host activities such as the autumn club and horticultural show.

“To try and avoid our 66-year-old club folding, we as a football club have proposed a number of solutions to Almondsbury Parish Council which included renting the detached changing rooms and erecting a new club house, or even just continuing to lease the pitches but all have been denied us.

“During our 40 years at Moorhouse Lane the ground has been turned from a ploughed field to a Southern League standard football ground. This has only happened through the love and dedication of a very small committee for the enjoyment of so many.

“To see this taken away by Almondsbury Parish Council citing financial reasons when they have £1.8million in the bank, and have just spent thousands of pounds on a high profile solicitor to eject Hallen FC, is very hard to take.

“Hallen FC have been model tenants since moving into the centre, always paying their rent on time, and very feel hard done by.”

The council which has in the past been called the richest parish council in the country after selling the land that is now Bradley Stoke to developers.

It has refuted claims that the club is being evicted from the land saying that they had worked with the club to find a viable solution.

A spokesman for Almondsbury Parish Council said: “This situation is not quite as it seems from the statement recently released by Hallen Football Club.

“Almondsbury Parish Council have always supported the Hallen Centre financially, particularly during the last 12 months while both parties endeavoured to find a viable solution to the financial problems of which Hallen Football Club have been aware for many years.

“Unfortunately a solution has not proved possible and Hallen Football Club are unable to sign any agreement or to pay an economic rent on the premises. The club are not being “evicted”.

“Financial support has been provided for many years by the parish council and our responsibility to the residents of the rest of the parish must be considered.”

A petition set up to try and save the club has received several hundred signatures. It can be found at: http://www.gopetition.com/petitions/helpsavehallenfootballclub.html