E-mail Article Print this story

Is the sun setting on A-line Arena?

Related Links

• Teams
• Kettering

Poppies looking at new stadium

Kettering Town chairman Imraan Ladak has revealed that a location for their newly proposed all-purpose stadium has been found.

The Poppies have been given untill March to resolve their stadium issue if they wish to be part of the Blue Square Premier League next season.

Ladak is confident that he has secured a site for the proposed stadium development but he first needs the go-ahead from the Kettering Council as well as that of A-Line Arena landlord, Ben Pickering.

"There are four parts to this really and those are having a site, securing some funding, having something suitable for the council and also for the landlord," Ladak told the Evening Telegraph.

"We feel the council will be fully supportive of us and I have no doubts about that. They have been great to me since I took over here.

"But it also has to make sense for our landlord. As a football club, we have our own needs and we can't expect the landlord to lose out for the benefit of the club.

"We have to make sure it all works for everyone and I believe that can - and is - being done.

"I never want to get over-confident about this particular issue. But what I will say is we are getting closer.

"I don't think there has ever been a point where a plan has been in place that satisfies everyone concerned.

"But we are close to being in that very position.

"Of course, the biggest problem is time because we don't have a lot of it."

Ladak also admitted that he has turned to Milton Keynes Dons chairman Pete Winkleman for advice on how to successfully make the transfer to a new stadium.

"As everyone knows, Pete has recently managed to build a £50m, 30,000 all-seater stadium and he was able to put all the pieces together to achieve that," Ladak added

"I have been getting a huge amount of advice from him and that has certainly helped us to get