After three long years of meetings with the various bodies which include the developer, LDC and Ringmer parish council, the Ringmer community college (Now Kings Group Academies) plus our legal advisors and not to forget the Government We have finally had the news that we have been waiting for.
(Note, the picture is not a true representation of the new ground but a fantasy in the head of the editor)

At na E.G.M on Tuesday 10th Jan 2017, Club members gathered for an update to the last E.G.M on the relocation of the ground three years ago.

The top table consisted of Chairman Derek McDougall, Gavin May Ground Development officer and Treasurer Gary Holder, with Club Secretary Richard Hugall and Trustee of Ringmer Football Club Alan Cherryman who has been at the club around 70 years and is one of our longest attending club members.

The Chairman opened the proceedings and announced that this meeting was to update the members with the news that we had finally reached the stage of submitting plans for the new stadium,

This meant the Government school playing fields minister to sign off the land for the purpose of building the new ground on, something we had been waiting on for over eight months, and with all other bodies all agreeing that a move to the college grounds could go ahead.

The Chairman handed over to Alan Cherryman who gave a passionate speech about the club over the years and how it has done us proud but sadly now those years had taken it's toll on the clubhouse and ground . He spoke of how if we did not do something now, future generations would not have a football club as we know it today. Alan remarked things would get worse very quickly if we take no action and we would be back in the 1950's cleaning cow pats off the pitch before a match. That was if we would even have somewhere to play. He then again with so much passion in his voice asked that the members support the committee in their quest to secure a future for Ringmer Football & Social club and the move to the college.

The Chairman then introduced Gavin May, Gavin stated with a short explanation of why things had taken so long and it seemed there was little news seeping through to the members. In short there were many hold ups ranging from the banking crises and osterity, the Minister who deals with school playing field being on holiday and the Community college changes last year among a plethora of meetings with all concerned parties and legal advisers. The Ringmer council and LDC though were on board with the idea practically from the beginning. Gavin then explained at what stage we are at now. This was really the first time since the last meeting that it was possible to give some encouraging news to the embers about the relocation.

The main news was that we have got to a major stage and with all concerned bodies agreeing that this relocation could go ahead, we can now let the developer put the plans forward to the relevant authorities for scattering
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Treasurer Gary Holder advised the members of the huge expense that the club cost to run with huge utility bills, the LDC ground rent along with various mounting maintenance costs to keep just the clubhouse fit for purpose. The ground is not it's best and could do with some major works being done, unfortunately the club has seen the best of it's day and only a major win on the lottery would get anywhere near the figure needed to survive. Gary went on to say that the new ground would be built to a higher spec than we could ever achieve if we stayed where we are. The facilities would be far better than ever with a state of the art clubhouse , a gym, more changing rooms etc. He commented on that it will be a great assett to the community of Ringmer and of course the College, Ringmer Rovers Junior Football club would benefit because of the 3G pitch along with others, where as now where we are the pitch is rarely available for such use.

Questions followed from the floor, these were of genuine concerns about the move and procedures, staffing, money, the Gym, the clubhouse, the 3G pitch and many other related concerns.

Gavin and Gary answered them well and showed a great understanding of the in all aspects of what needs to be done and the ways to do things and what we can expect at the end of the build.

Ted Hopkins (a member from the floor) then proposed a vote from the members to back the trustees and go forward with the next step of the journey. This was done with an overwhelming 99,4% of members attending the meeting voted in favor of the proposal. This was then followed by a round of applause for the top table to end the meeting.

It has been a long time coming but the Ringmer F & S Club Committee who took over the club in 2008 and extracted it out of administration and then started the on the road to a better time have worked very hard to even get to this point. It has taken a big toll on a few of the team but with out their contributions we would not even got this far.

The committee is still working hard to keep things alive and running in a proffesional way. Things haven't always gone the way it should have done but everybody learns by their mistakes. However this latest news is good news (for a change) and if things now go to plan we have an exciting future in front of us. (Hang on to your hats)

The Committee thank all the members for their continued support and wishes the a Happy new Year.