FOOTBALLERS wanting to use the pitch at the new Arbour Park Community Sports Stadium will have to pay the most expensive hire fee in Berkshire.

Thames Valley Sunday Football League club Real Milan wanted to use Arbour Park as their home ground, but were stunned by the price quoted to them by Slough Borough Council.

The council asked for £330 per league fixture. For an amateur, self-funded club, that is £3,300 per season with a minimum of 10 home matches.

Milan player-coach Zuf Asghar insists no community club could afford that quote and has urged the council to reconsider its price.

He told the Observer: “I understand why the price is high because it’s a new facility and the council will want to recoup the money they’ve paid in, but it is for community use as well, so I’m disappointed.

“It would be great if the council could help the community use the pitch, but the hire fees are a grey area. There are a lot of amateur clubs in the area but none will be able to afford the price required for Arbour Park.

“We pay to play and don’t have big sponsors, government or FA money, so the price is unthinkable.

“I just want the council to be reasonable with their prices and for common sense to prevail. Give everyone the opportunity to rent the pitch out.

Slough Observer:

PHOTO: To book Arbour Park for a 90-minute football match it would cost you £240, according to Slough Borough Council prices.

“The ground is great but the surface is similar at Langley Academy and they only charge a small amount.

“It’s a good facility and we’ve helped Slough Town in the past so it would be good to help them again, grow the community and un-earth young talent.”

Slough Council explained that the fee was benchmarked against 16 similar facilities across the country and they are satisfied the price reflects the quality on offer at Arbour Park.

A council spokesperson said: “Locally we’ve found that other places that have a 3G pitch don’t have similar facilities of the quality we have.

“We benchmarked including the space across both floors, the stands, stadium capacity, as well as the quality of the pitch.

“This is also a brand new facility and the prices reflect this.

“Similar stadiums include those at Maidstone, Sutton Coldfield and Hayes & Yeading.”

The Observer looked into pitch hire fees and, with the use of Freedom of Information requests, found Arbour Park to be the most expensive in Berkshire.

We asked for quotes for a two-hour pitch booking and the use of changing facilities, floodlights plus at least a vending machine for refreshments.

We found Arbour Park to cost £240, more expensive than the Bracknell Leisure Centre (£180) and Academy Sport Leisure Centre in Reading (£176).

The 3G surface at Burnham Grammar would cost £100 and Langley Academy is £82 – the least expensive quote we were given.

What do you think? Are Slough Borough Council right to set their prices on a benchmark to other similar stadiums or should fees be lowered for community use?

E-mail rob.stevens@newsquest.co.uk or tweet @Robs_Sports