Gloucester City: New stadium build due to begin

Gloucester City's Meadow Park has not been able to host games since 2007 (pictured in 2017)

Work is finally due to begin on a new stadium for Gloucester City Football Club 12 years after Meadow Park was submerged in the floods of 2007.

A meeting between club co-chairman Alex Petheram, director Brian McGurk and the Football Stadia Improvement Fund has agreed final conditions.

The new stadium will have two 350-seater stands and artificial grass.

Mr Petheram said he was "delighted to reach this milestone" and described the announcement as "exciting times".

"It's been a long and challenging road," he said.

Meadow Park was Gloucester City's home stadium from 1986 until 2007.

Gloucester City have not played at Meadow Park since the floods of 2007

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Since 2007 the National League North club - nicknamed the Tigers - have entered into groundshare arrangements with four different clubs.

Their current "home" is 25 miles from Gloucester in the Worcestershire market town of Evesham.

Mr Petheram said the "ambition is to finish this season at Evesham and start next season at Meadow Park".

"We are ready to dig holes in the ground and ordered the stands this morning," he added.

The new pitch will be raised 3.5 metres from the old level of Meadow Park and will be artificial.

"A 3G pitch enables us to use it all year round for training, for the ladies team, for the under-18s to make it a community club back in Gloucester," said Mr Petheram.

In May Gloucester City Council approved plans for a new stadium.