Football league is abandoned
A five-a-side football league planned for Stafford's controversial new leisure centre has been abandoned after a furious row between the council and the private sports firm set to run it.
It was today revealed that Leisure Leagues, the company behind the plans to set up the indoor football scheme, walked away from the deal in anger, blaming the borough council's "completely unacceptable" attitude.
The move, which comes following the closure of Stafford Sports Arenas in January, now means five-a-side footballers have been left out in the cold with no dedicated indoor league to play in.
Bosses at Leisure Leagues claim the council threw "every obstacle' in the company's path in its bid to get the league started and chief executive David Leone has now scrapped the plans.
He said the Lammascote Road centre, which has been at the centre of controversy since opening last year, was the only suitable venue in the town.
The "pokey" centre, which replaced the much-loved Riverside complex, has been criticised for being much smaller than its predecessor with less facilities.
The old centre has now been demolished to make way for redevelopment. It has been left derelict due to lack of cash for its transformation.
"We were ready and prepared to house all the teams affected by the Sports Arenas closure but because of the council's attitude, we won't be bothering with Stafford at all now," said Mr Leone.
"We're the biggest company of our kind in Europe and hold leagues in most major towns and cities but not now in Stafford.
"We deal with hundreds of leisure facilities all over and to get an attitude like that is odd to say the least. They normally welcome use with open arms." The league, which had been welcomed by five-a-side fans, had been due to start in two weeks but Mr Leone says council bosses were not keen on plans because they "wanted the credit" for bringing it back to the town.
Stafford Borough Council's head of policy and improvement, Norman Jones, said the authority was baffled by Mr Leone's reaction and claims the real reason Leisure Leagues did not want to go ahead with the scheme was because of a lack of demand, rather than any problems with the council.
"We had been informed earlier in the week that Leisure Leagues no longer wished to proceed in partnership with Stafford Borough due to a lack of interest from five-a-side footballers in the area," he said.
"We are always happy to develop new initiatives at the leisure centre to benefit the health and wellbeing of the boroughs' community."
