ONE of the country's best known amateur football clubs is a step closer to getting a new ground, almost a decade after drawing up plans for the scheme.

Bishop Auckland Football Club wants to move from its former Kingsway ground to a new stadium in Tindale Crescent.

But the club, which has won the FA Amateur Cup a record ten times, has been unable to press ahead with the development because of a series of delays.

Since leaving its home of 115 years last April, the club has played its Unibond League fixtures on Shildon's Dean Street ground, fuelling fears among supporters that the move would fall through and the club would be left homeless.

Solicitors acting on behalf of the trustees of Bishop Auckland Football Club and Cricket Club, which shared the Kingsway site, are drawing up contracts to complete the sale of the land.

Nick Postma, secretary of the Bishop Auckland Football Club and Bishop Auckland Cricket Club trustees, said: "All the processes are virtually complete now and only the contracts need to be signed.

"Wear Valley District Council was very supportive of the idea and has continued to be so since the planning application was first made in 1994.

"The stumbling block has been Sport England, who have a right to comment on any planning application involving sports grounds.

"They laid down a stipulation that the sale of the football ground could not go ahead until Bishop Auckland FC had done substantial work on a new ground.

"The football club, however, needed the money from the sale of the ground before they could go ahead and start building the new stadium.

"This obstacle has now been removed by Durham Benevolents, the group of people who are buying the land.

"They have provided substantial funding to Wear Valley District Council to drain a public playing field in the area and make it playable again. This has satisfied Sport England."

Once the sale of the ground is completed, the money will be divided between the football club, the cricket club, which is remaining on part of the site, and the original landowners, the Church Commissioners.

The football club can use the money to finance its new ground at Tindale Crescent, while Durham Benevolents will build sheltered accommodation on the land that was formerly used by the football club.