A RAPIDLY expanding football club has unveiled a series of ambitious goals which could lead to a market town having a semi-professional team for the first time.

Thirsk Falcons Junior FC is searching for a base of its own in the town where it could have a clubhouse and pitches, including one with a grandstand and floodlights, to add to those it has used at Thirsk Racecourse for 33 years and will use at Sowerby Gateway sports village.

Recent seasons have seen a surge of boys and girls from the town, Northallerton, Ripon and Boroughbridge wanting to play at the club, which attempts to balance an inclusive ethos with competitiveness, and club leaders believe its 19 teams featuring 225 players could increase to nearly 30 in the coming years.

To ensure continuity for its older members, the club is aiming to either merge with Thirsk Falcons FC, which plays in the Teesside, Harrogate and District and Jan Sinker Memorial leagues, or launch a team of its own, with the aim of securing a spot in the semi-professional Northern League.

Chairman Wayne Sowden said the club, which recently launched a disability team with the Dales School and saw another win a league, was becoming a victim of its own success.

He said: "We are fast running out of space to play, even with all that the Sowerby Gateway football facilities - which the FA will put up to £450,000 to develop - is going to offer.

"The pitches we have are getting heavy use and no respite, so we are using wherever we can get a bit of grass to train on.

"We want semi-professional football in Thirsk - it may be ten years away - as there is the enthusiasm and talent in the area, but at the moment it doesn't matter how many times they win the league, they can't go any higher because the club has to have certain facilities.

"We have been fundraising quite vigorously for a couple of years, but a ground of our own would also enable us to secure grants."

To further the plans, the club is seeking to recruit volunteers and experts to enhance its dedicated team of coaches, and a committee that deals with finance, strategy and communications.

It is holding a recruitment event at Thirsk Town Hall on December 6, from 7.30pm to 8.30pm, to highlight various roles and detail its plans.