Aggborough Stadium and the Adjacent Car Park, Hoo Road, Kidderminster:

The KHIST Board’s position is simply to seek assurances from Wyre Forest District Council (WFDC) that the site’s football use and role as the home of Kidderminster Harriers will be safeguarded. For clarity, KHIST does not intend to block any potential sale to the club’s owner, Richard Lane, and would welcome engagement with him should he be the successful buyer, particularly in relation to any proposed stadium redevelopment plans on the Aggborough Stadium site.

Following Wyre Forest District Council’s formal notice of intention to dispose of the asset dated 23 October 2025. The KHIST board ask WFDC respond to the following questions:

• Q1). Could the Council advise on the current position regarding the proposed sale (including timescales) acknowledging that you may be limited in what commercial details can be shared?

• Q2). Could the Council confirm what safeguards are being considered for the site, and whether appropriate covenants will be applied to any future sale to ensure the land’s long‑term use for sporting purposes?

• Q3).  Could the Council confirm whether any existing lease agreements relating to the land would be transferable in the event of a sale?

The KHIST board plans to share the answers to the above questions with our members. Before releasing any information to its members, we will ask WFDC to review the text.

There are well‑recorded instances where local authorities did not apply restrictive covenants or similar safeguards, leaving football clubs vulnerable. In some cases, the absence of these protections played a direct role in clubs losing their grounds, facing long‑term displacement, or ultimately ceasing to exist. Some recent examples of UK Football Clubs That Lost Their Grounds Due to Weak or Missing Local Authority Protections are listed on the following pages.

Club/Ground	Local Authority	Core Issue	What happened	Impact	Possible prevention measures
Scarborough FC – McCain Stadium (2006–2017)	Scarborough Borough Council	No covenant on council‑owned freehold	Ground sold for redevelopment after club folded; stadium demolished and replaced with Lidl	Scarborough Athletic had no home in the town for 10 years, ground sharing in Bridlington	A basic covenant would have prevented sale and demolition
Wimbledon FC – Plough Lane (1991–2002)	London Borough of Merton	No covenant protecting football use	Ground sold and later approved for housing; club forced into groundshare then relocation to Milton Keynes	Club identity destroyed; AFC Wimbledon formed	Protection would have prevented displacement and loss of heritage
Hereford United – Edgar Street (2014)	Herefordshire Council	Vulnerable lease; no long‑term protection	Lease terminated after club collapse; redevelopment explored	Hereford FC had to renegotiate access from scratch	Lack of secure lease left club exposed to political and financial pressures
Darlington FC – Feethams (2003–2006)	Darlington Borough Council	No covenant on historic ground	Feethams sold for housing after moving to Arena	Arena project collapsed; club left without fallback, entered administration and dropped four divisions	A covenant would have preserved a viable community ground
Chester City – Sealand Road (1990)	Chester City Council	No protection on sale	Ground sold for retail development; club forced into groundshare	Financial instability contributed to collapse in 2010	Lack of protection directly caused displacement and long‑term decline
Maidstone United – London Road (1988–1992	Maidstone Borough Council	No covenant on sale	Ground sold for development; club became homeless	Club folded in 1992	A protected home ground could have prevented collapse
Rotherham United – Millmoor (2008)	Rotherham MBC	No covenant; no planning safeguards	Disputes with private owner; no council intervention	Club forced to play in Sheffield for four seasons	A council‑backed covenant could have prevented exile
Boston United – York Street (2020)	Boston Borough Council	No covenant on privately owned ground	Lease expired; ground sold for redevelopment	Club relocated to out‑of‑town site	Lack of protection meant permanent loss of historic ground
Workington AFC – Borough Park (Ongoing)	Allerdale Borough Council	No binding protections; repeated redevelopment proposals	Long‑term uncertainty and near‑loss of ground	Decades of instability	Shows how absence of covenants creates chronic insecurity
South Shields – Filtrona Park (2013	South Tyneside Council	No covenant protecting football use	Club lost access; forced to relocate 20 miles to Peterlee	Two seasons displacement	Classic example of avoidable relocation due to lack of protection
Dudley Town – The Dell / Round Oak Stadium (1985–1997)	Dudley Metropolitan Borough Council	No covenant or statutory protection on the club’s long‑term home	Club forced into a long period of ground sharing across the region (Halesowen, Stourbridge, Gornal, Willenhall etc.	Instability contributed to financial strain and competitive decline	Lack of a protected, council‑secured home base left the club nomadic for decades. A covenant or safeguarded replacement site would have preserved continuity and community identity
Worcester City – St George’s Lane (2013)	Worcester City Council	No covenant on historic freehold; ground sold for housing redevelopment	Club displaced after more than a century at St George’s Lane	Club forced into long‑term exile outside the city (Kidderminster, Bromsgrove, Evesham). Loss of home ground undermined attendances, finances and community presence	A protected covenant or binding replacement‑stadium agreement would have prevented prolonged exile and decline

In the cases highlighted, across all these recent examples, the pattern is the same:

1. Local authorities failed to apply restrictive covenants or protective designations. This left football grounds vulnerable to redevelopment.

2. Once the land became commercially attractive, councils or owners sold it. Without legal protection, football use was not prioritised.

3. Clubs became homeless, financially unstable, or folded entirely. The community paid the price.

4. Rebuilding took years, if it happened at all.

• Scarborough: Folded. Pheonix club formed 2007
• Wimbledon: Folded. Pheonix club formed 2002
• Darlington: Folded. Pheonix club formed 2012
• Maidstone: Folded. Pheonix club formed 1992
• Chester: Folded. Pheonix club formed 2010
• Rotherham United: 4‑year exile in Sheffield.
• Boston United: Historic ground lost permanently
• Workington AFC: Decades of instability and repeated threat of losing their home
• South Shields: Forced to relocate 20 miles away for 2 seasons
• Dudley Town: Long‑term homelessness after ground loss; decades of instability
• Worcester City: Exiled from the city since 2013 with no permanent home for over a decade until agreement on ground share at Sixways Stadium for 2025/26 season.

A covenant offers a straightforward but powerful safeguard: it keeps the land dedicated to sporting and community use, prevents inappropriate redevelopment, and provides long-term stability for the club and its supporters. It also protects the identity and investment of the local community. Crucially, this is not about blocking development; it is about ensuring that any future changes take place responsibly and in line with the site’s established purpose.

For WFDC, this represents a rare opportunity to secure a major community asset for the long term. Councils elsewhere in the country have faced significant challenges after failing to protect their stadiums, clubs displaced, grounds demolished and communities left without the facilities that once anchored them. By acting now, the Council can avoid those mistakes and ensure that future generations inherit a protected, thriving sporting facility. This is a decision that strengthens the town’s legacy rather than limiting its options.

There is also a relevant national precedent. Wrexham AFC’s position is strengthened not only because their Supporters’ Trust holds the lease on the Racecourse Ground, but because they have an additional safeguard in place:

As part of the transfer from Wrexham Glyndwr University, the club agreed that the Racecourse Ground would remain the home of Wrexham AFC until at least 30 June 2115, unless it was determined that the stadium could no longer meet the club’s requirements. In that circumstance, the Racecourse Ground could only be sold if analternative stadium sitewithin Wrexham had been identified and planning permission granted for a new stadium.

This model shows how a council can protect a stadium’s future while still allowing for responsible development if circumstances genuinely change. In the same spirit, our request is clear and measured: apply a restrictive covenant safeguarding Aggborough Stadium for sporting use, provide long-term security of tenure for Kidderminster Harriers Football Club, and embed planning protections that reflect the stadium’s community value. Incorporating a safeguard similar to Wrexham’s would also give the Council a reliable fallback should the land ever be proposed for sale, ensuring that Kidderminster Harriers Football Club and the wider community are never left without a viable home.