Footballers' dreams of returning home will finally come true after they raised enough money to modernise their ground.
For the past four years, Colne Engaine Football Club has been forced to play its games in Maldon and more recently as part of the Wormingford Wanderers, near Bures, because facilities at Burches Meadow, in Pebmarsh Road, were deemed to be substandard.
The club has already spent £48,000 building a new pavilion, but needed extra funds to set up the electrics and plumbing inside the building.
Following a £17,000 grant from Essex County Council's Community Initiatives Fund, the club has been able to afford the upgrades, which means that its grounds will meet the required standards.
Tom Owens, the club’s chairman, said that the club wanted to return to its home village by the beginning of the next season in September.
He said: “The money means we can move home."
See this week's Halstead Gazette for the full story.
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