Salisbury fans have set up a petition calling on Wiltshire Council and the trustees of the Raymond McEnhill Stadium to support the new football club for the lease to the stadium.
The petition reads:
After years of turmoil through financial irregularities during previous ownerships, and a particularly terrible year in 2014, our beloved football club, Salisbury City FC eventually folded and ceased to exist. We, the fans, were devastated but our hopes were raised when a consortium of decent, honest Salisbury businessmen purchased the assets of the old club and formed a new club called Salisbury FC. Together with renowned sports journalist Ian Ridley as advisor and well known footballer Steve Claridge as manager, it seemed like this new club could have a bright future despite all the heartbreak that had gone before. But it wasn't to be.
In 1997 Raymond McEnhill had given Salisbury a football stadium with the intention of ensuring that there would always be a place for a Salisbury football team to play. However, with the old club folding, the trustees of the Raymond McEnhill trust don't seem willing to allow the new club to use the existing facilities. In fact, so far they haven't seen willing to even discuss the future with the new club owners.
We, therefore, petition the Wiltshire Council and The Trustees of the Raymond McEnhill Trust to Support Salisbury's new football club (Salisbury FC) in obtaining a lease for the use of the Raymond McEnhill Stadium and bring football back to the city! For supporters past, present and future!
We, as supporters of the newly formed Salisbury FC, wish to support the owners of the club in their talks with the trustees of the Raymond McEnhill Stadium. Hopefully, this will result in a productive dialogue with a positive outcome for all involved! We aim to display to the trustees how much hunger there is for football to be returned to the city and more importantly the Raymond McEnhill Stadium as well as how much support there is for our cause in the wider footballing community!
The petition can be signed at https://www.change.org/p/wiltshire-council-and-the-trustees-of-the-raymond-mcenhill-trust-save-our-stadium