NEWARK AGREE A MYSTERY SHARE ‘LIFELINE’

MIDLAND League Premier Division outfit Newark have negotiated a groundshare “lifeline” with a mystery Nottinghamshire club for next season after being forced out of their Lowfields home of 120 years.

Club officials are hoping to negotiate a new lease with landlord Charles Collier, who has generated local controversy with plans to build homes on the Balderton site.

Hundreds of people have signed a petition calling for the establishment of a community trust to be set up to protect the Hawton Lane ground.

A Newark statement said that a season-long groundshare agreement has been agreed with a county rival to assure their future. The name of the club has not yet been released, pending FA ratification for the move.

The statement said: “We would like to thank everyone who has supported the club in our attempts to stay at our home – Lowfields – and greatly appreciate and respect the efforts by members of the community and our fans and supporters.

“These efforts were unable to secure our continued operation from Lowfields or indeed the longevity of the grounds. However, we do not believe they were in vain, as they showed the depth of feeling for the Lowfields site as a community asset, and a location for sporting activity.

“We are in discussions to ensure that the football club returns to Newark, where it belongs, for the 2022-23 season. Our aims are to secure the future and status of the football club and to return to Newark, back to the community we have been made to feel an integral part of.”

The Newark-on-Trent club were formed in 1901 as Worthington Simpsons and played in the Nottinghamshire Alliance for many years, and were renamed IDP Newark in 1998, Newark Flowserve in 2001 and Newark last May. Since 2004, they have worked their way up to Step 5 via the Central Midlands League, Nottinghamshire Senior League, East Midlands Counties League and eventually the Step 5 competition in which they now play.