STOURBRIDGE FC faces a race against time to keep 250 of its young stars playing junior football in the town – but council chiefs have promised to do their best to find them new pitches.

An end to the club's agreement with King Edward VI College – who used to house the Glassboys’ 23 junior teams at Greenfields – has left Stourbridge’s youth section virtually homeless.

They have managed to secure sites for eight of their teams at Ormiston Academy in Oldbury and Dudley College’s Castle View base.

But that still leaves 15 sides, around 250 young players in total, without a home pitch for the new season starting in August – and the club is adamant it wants to keep as many of the teams in their hometown as possible.

Deputy chairman Andy Bullingham said: “We are trying to source pitches in the Stourbridge area with the help of the council but progress is always slow with these sorts of things.

“The frustrating and upsetting thing is that the teams don’t have a facility in the Stourbridge area.

“That’s why we strongly need the assistance of the council. They have the land available but we need their permission to use it.

“We are short in the younger age groups, where it’s smaller pitches – five, seven, nine-a-side.”

Councillor Karen Shakespeare, cabinet member for environmental services, said Dudley Metropolitan Borough Council was doing its best to help the club.

She said: “We are committed to supporting grassroots football in the borough and are working with the club to help them identify suitable venues.”

Stourbridge’s junior sides have used the facilities at King Edward’s in Oldswinford for many years but the two parties have this spring decided to part ways.

A statement from the college said: “King Edward VI College own and manage the playing fields known as The Green Fields off Swinford Road.

“The site is used by the college for outdoor sporting activities and in recent years has been used by Stourbridge Football Club for its junior teams.

“The college have been in active discussions with Stourbridge Football Club over its continued use of the site, but we have not been able to reach an agreement, so Stourbridge Football Club have ceased to use the facility.

“The college wish the Football Club every success in finding alternative accommodation for its junior league (teams).”