Ropework Park pavilion upgrade to be tackled by rugby club

“This will make a massive difference,” Lee told the Advertiser. “The rugby club has grown so much over the last decade; it has been around since the late 1970s, all without a permanent home.

“This gives the club an identity and somewhere the players can call theirs. It gives us a solid platform now, to see just how far we can take the club.”

Lee explained that Ropework Park’s pavilion was originally built in the 1980s but had never been upgraded.

“Once the Joint Campus was built the football club stopped using the Ropework and it slowly fell into a bit of disrepair,” he said.

“We started using it as a rugby pitch at the start of the 23/24 season when the men’s senior team reformed and the council were straight up with us that they had no budget to do any works to bring it up to standard.

“After discussions with them we agreed to look into the club taking on the lease so we could do the necessary repair work. 

“It’s taken over a year, but we now have the lease, and we are planning to start the necessary works soon.

“The council did organise an electrical rewire of the building before we took possession and, while the process has been drawn out, time consuming and frustrating at times, all the council officers I have dealt with have been very helpful and encouraging.”