WELLINGTON Football Club’s bid to continue playing at its current level has been bolstered by the recent approval of plans to build a new spectator stand.

On Friday, February 7, Wellington Football Club (WFC) welcomed the approval of plans to erect an additional ‘standing’ spectators stand at the Wellington Playing Field, after a report revealed that the current facilities failed to meet the required standards for teams to continue playing in their league.

The club currently plays at the Football Association’s (FA) level five - which includes the Western League premier division - requiring WFC to provide sufficient facilities for 100 spectators.

Wellington Football Club had previously relied on the Selwyn Aspin grandstand, a singular covered ‘seated’ stand which had been accepted to meet the minimum required standard capacity of 100 spectators.

However, after a visit from the Football Foundation on behalf of the FA in in December, an assessment deemed the facilities no longer acceptable as not all spectators were able to see all four corner flags of the pitch. It was ruled that the stand was only suitable for 50 people.

According to the report from the Football Foundation, WFC failed to meet the necessary standards in a number of areas, and in order to maintain its level five playing status, improvement works had to be carried out by March 25, 2025.

After the plans to erect the new stand were approved last week, the development will now go ahead at a cost of at least £10,625, as quoted by Peterborough-based Sports Ground Development Ltd in December of last year.

It had been agreed that the new ‘standing’ stand will be erected at the northern end of the pitch to the east of the existing ‘seated’ stand, with capacity for 100 spectators.