Greenwich Borough sign 30-year lease to play at Cray Valley's Badgers Sports Ground

GREENWICH BOROUGH have signed a 30-year lease to play their home games back in Eltham next season.

After an absence of eight years groundsharing in Bromley (at Holmesdale FC) and Dartford, the club are set to return to the Royal Borough of Greenwich in August.

The club will be playing their home games at Cray Valley’s Badgers Sports Ground at Middle Park Avenue, which is just around the corner from their modest home at Harrow Meadow.

A club statement, which was published on www.greenwichboroughfc.co.uk/, said: “Mr Perry Skinner, chairman of Greenwich Borough FC has signed a 30-year lease with Maurice McAnallen of Cray Valley FC and owner of Badgers Sports Ground, Middle Park Avenue, Eltham, a stones throw from our previous ground at Harrow Meadow, just before Christmas.

“Cray Valley will continue to play their home matches at Badgers with Greenwich Borough as head tenants.

“Micky Cantwell, gym and Badgers Sports Club, will be sub tenants to Greenwich Borough Football Club.

“Mr Skinner stated that he is excited by this fabulous opportunity to take the club back to its rightful home, the Royal Borough of Greenwich.”

Mr Skinner added: “When my brother Lord David Skinner and myself took the club over in June 2013 one of our main objectives was to return Greenwich Borough Football Club back to the Borough within the first five years.

“We have accomplished this in under three years due to the financial backing of our main sponsor DGS Marine (Lord David Skinner) and the hard work of our committee.

“We see this as a great opportunity to become a community focused club, a sporting hub.

“We will encourage with local schools and other local community groups to work hard to kick racism out of this beautiful game.

“We aim to provide facilities that will give opportunities to all sectors of the community one that reaches out to ALL members of the community.

“The team will be the heart of the club, but the supporters are the soul of the club.”

On the pitch, Greenwich Borough go into the New Year sitting second in the Southern Counties East Football League with 43 points from 20 games.

They are eight points behind league leaders, Gillingham based Hollands & Blair, who are playing in the highest level of football in their history and claimed back-to-back Kent Invicta League titles before their debut in the division.

Greenwich Borough are managed by former Millwall ace Gary Alexander, who has recently appointed John Mackie as his assistant.

Alexander takes charge of his second game at Sevenoaks Town tomorrow after replacing Ian Jenkins on 21 December after Jenkins was sacked following an altercation with a club director before a home game against Beckenham Town, after two years in charge of the club, in which he failed to get the club promoted into the Ryman League with the biggest budget in the league.

Visit Greenwich Borough’s website: www.greenwichboroughfc.co.uk

Article published: 15:40 – Friday 1 January 2016