Plans approved for new sports pavilion (From Gazette Series)

Club Spotlight: Old Sodbury FC look to continue their rise

9:16am Thursday 22nd December 2011 in Yate and Sodbury Sport By Rob Iles

OLD SODBURY Football Club have received planning permission from South Gloucestershire Council to build a new £160,000 Community Sports Pavilion at their ground.

The village side has risen through the leagues with five promotions in six years and need the changing room facilities to continue their progression.

The first team currently play their home games at Tormarton in order to compete in Bristol Premier Combination League Division One, where they are riding high in fourth, but hope to return to the Old Sodbury Playing Fields by the start of next season.

Sodbury were denied permission by the county council to build a bigger clubhouse with a social area, but the new pavilion will satisfy their needs and will benefit the whole community with the facilities also being used by the cricket club, Old Sodbury Primary School and the Village Hall committee to support leisure activities.

The club has already raised £5,000 and although their application to Sodbury Town Council for some funding has been rejected, they have also applied to the Town Lands Trust, Lottery Sport England, Doddington Parish Council and the Football Foundation.

“Once the funds are in place it shouldn’t take long,” said chairman Richard Deane.

“We can’t play at home because we need changing facilities on sight and we used the village hall.”

Sodbury have ambitions of reaching the Gloucestershire County League, two divisions above where they are currently, and if they were to achieve that they would have to make further improvements to the ground, including fencing and a dugout.

Deane, who has been chairman for five years, said: “We know that we’re riding the crest of a wave at the moment and we cannot go any higher than the County League because we’ve got no income other than players’ subs.

“We’re nearly at the summit but we’ve got two big challenges ahead.

“We started a reserve team for the first time this season and they’re playing at the old ground, so it’s exciting times.”

Greg Everson took over as Old Sodbury manager seven years ago when they were in Bristol and District League Division Five after he was forced to stop playing at the age of 29 due to a knee injury.

The previous highest level the club had played at was Division Four and Everson hopes their rise will continue.

“We have been very lucky and very successful to say the least,” he said.

“I never expected so many promotions and to get to level that we have so quickly has been fantastic.

“It would be such a big achievement to go from the bottom but one league in Bristol to the County League in such a short space of time, hence why the changing rooms will be a draw to attract new players.”