AFTER three decades away from their old ground, a football club are now poised to return home.

Nelson FC, founder members of the Third Division North division in the Football League, have announced plans to relocate to their original pitch at Seedhill, just outside the town centre.

Nelson played at the Seedhill ground until the late 1970s but moved to Victoria Park to make way for the construction of the M65 motorway.

The motorway however, was built to run alongside the ground and consequently took up very little room.

The old ground saw performances from legendary player Joe Fagan, who went on to glory as manager of Liverpool FC.

Chairman Alan Pickering said: “Since the move, the land around the site of the old ground has never been used for anything else.

“We expect therefore that there is still planning permission in place for a football ground, and I know that the utilities are still there.

“The main reason we are planning the move is financial.

“We are tucked away in a bit of a backwater where we are now, and cannot attract too many income streams as a result.

“So if we move nearer to the town centre we will be better placed to do that.”

Club officials, currently facing a costly floodlight problem, are hoping to move back to Seedhill after next season.

Recent failures in the lighting system at Victoria Park may cost up to £8,000 to fix.

Mr Pickering said: “It will cost around £4,000 just to find out what the problem is “And if it’s a more serious problem we could be look-ing at having to spend double that to get the problem resolved.

“We will probably have to get funding to help us, either through the Lottery, or I believe we might be able to get help from the Football Foundation’s Sta-dia funding arm too.”

Preliminary discussions have been held between the club and the local authorities.

And club officials stated that the council has given them verbal backing for the plans to return to the Seedhill ground.