The future of sport in Ollerton and the surrounding area continues to look bright with the news that Ollerton Town Football Club, and Ollerton Rugby Club, are coming together to work on a unified development of the Walesby Lane sports ground.

It was recently announced that the football club, the current tenants of the ground, had secured a 25 year lease of the facility with a newly formed Community Benefit Society (CBS) overseeing the development of the land.

However, in the meetings of that Community Benefit Society, it soon became clear that to fully maximise the potential of the land, and to ultimately end up with a facility that benefits the community of Ollerton the most, a multi-sports focus would be necessary.

With that in mind, the rugby club were invited on board and they are already integrating themselves into the process, with representatives attending meetings of the CBS and Walesby Lane hosting their youth training sessions in midweek.

The two clubs will now pool their resources to help the fundraising effort and all of this should lead to rugby being played down at Walesby Lane in the not too distant future.

Moving forward, the CBS will be known as the Ollerton Town Community Sports Society. Both the football club, and the rugby club, will be allowed to maintain their current identities, meaning that the football club will now stay as simply Ollerton Town FC.

Whilst the sports society shall oversee the development and eventual maintenance of the Walesby Lane site, the two clubs will remain in charge of their respective day-to-day affairs.

Ollerton Rugby Club are a hugely popular and well-run club who continue to play a big role in the local area, with two men’s teams and training for both ladies and juniors.

Bringing the town’s two main sports teams under one roof will be a huge boost to the area, but also greatly improve fundraising efforts. It shall open up the new facility to more people in Ollerton and the wider area, which should create a real community hub in the heart of the village.

Ollerton Rugby Club currently play at Boughton Village Hall and it is important to all involved that the improvement of a facility in one part of the town, does not come at the detriment of another. The hope is that, to support the number of teams of all ages, the Boughton Village Hall site will still be regularly used by sides from both the football and rugby club.

Over the past few months, things have been progressing quietly behind the scenes in regards to the development of Walesby Lane. Whilst there is still some way to go until building work will start, the hope is that news of initial plans for the site will be released over the coming weeks. The fundraising process has also begun and news on that may also come in the near future.

A reminder that for just £1, you can also secure membership of the Ollerton Town Community Sports Society, allowing you a say in the future of the Walesby Lane site. It is hoped that online membership will be live soon.