Kettering Town FC: Poppies work with council to find home ground

The club played at the Elgoods Brewery Arena on Rockingham Road, Kettering, until 2011

A football club's plan to return to its "spiritual home" has been dashed after a bid to buy its old ground collapsed.

Kettering Town FC, known as the Poppies, failed to secure the Rockingham Road site when it was sold through a closed bidding process.

The club, which has played home games eight miles (12.9km) away at Latimer Park, has said it wants to build a new stadium in its home town.

Bosses are working with the borough council to find a suitable location.

Chairman Ritchie Jeune said a new site had so far proved hard to find, but plans to secure a long-term home for the club were still on the agenda.

The Elgoods Brewery Arena was the team's home for 100 years, but it was forced to move in 2011 due to financial difficulties.

An anonymous buyer purchased the ground towards the end of last year.

Plans to build a ground on the former Avondale School site were also abandoned after the land was earmarked for housing developments.