Welsh Premier League Football - Clubs hit by grant funding delay

CLUBS aiming to win the FAW's new domestic licence for next season are being frustrated by delays in receiving grant aid for new stadium infrastructure.
Welsh Ground Improvements failed to approve any requests for grants at its meeting last week, when it considered applications from clubs in the Welsh Premier and the main feeder leagues that did not require planning permission.
It was decided to defer any decisions until the Trust's next meeting in January, when projects that do require planning consent - for which the closing date is December 31 - will be added to the queue.
One club affected by the delay is Airbus UK Broughton, whose spokesman Phil Bailey says: "It is a disappointment as we would have liked to crack on with developments to bring the seating up to the minimum 500 required for the domestic licence."
The New Saints have applied for grant aid towards a new 1,000-seater stand and other infrastructure requirements of the licence, and general manager Ian Williams says: "The club has a strategy in place to complete the first phase of our ground development plan.
"Having secured planning consent, we thought that by submitting our application before the October 31 deadline, decisions would have been made to enable us to start work this month.
"This now leaves us little or no time to complete construction with any financial assistance as our understanding is that you cannot start work prior to being awarded funding."
Welsh Grounds Improvements is a joint venture between the Welsh Football Trust and the Football Association of Wales. The company receives funding from the FAW to distribute as grant aid to the six main affiliated leagues.
welsh-premier.com understands that the delay has been caused by the fact that the applications received so far exceed the funds available by more than four times and Welsh Ground Improvements needs to assess the clubs' total funding requirement against the monies available for distribution.
The Airfield

Airbus UK Broughton is one of the clubs adversely affected.