Newington Gunners left without home-ground after Cricket NSW move

One local soccer club has been left without a field to play after Cricket NSW announced their Centre of Excellence would be placed right on top of their club’s home base.

WHERE WILL WE PLAY? Newington Gunners Soccer Club say they have no alternatives other than Wilson Park.

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Sporting club Newington Gunners have called a decision by Cricket NSW to take over their soccer field “selfish”.

The club were told about the $50 million move of the Sydney Thunder and the western hub for the NSW Blues and Breakers to Wilson Park in a phone call hours after the announcement was made.

Newington club secretary Ben Nilsson said the decision by Cricket NSW and the State Government would put them out of a home base.

“A person from the parks department at Parramatta council called me and told me basically “I’m sorry but you need to see this” and she sent me the link,” Mr Nilsson said.

“I wish I could say I was surprised, they Sydney Olympic Park Authority (SOPA) have never consulted with us or even listened to our concerns for the fields.”

The club has used the Sydney Olympic Park area as their home ground since 2004 and said consultation has been rare as the facilities crumbled.

Newington Gunners Soccer Club are being booted from Wilson Park to make way for Cricket NSW's Centre for Excellence.

“The showers are disgusting, the field is not maintained and the lighting is terrible, but no one was willing to listen to us and now we have this also made with no consultation.”

A Cricket NSW spokesman said the group has been in consultation to find another home for the club.

“SOPA and Parramatta council are working closely to ensure existing users are relocated to appropriate alternative facilities,” the spokesman said.

Mr Nilsson said this is not the case, pointing to the lack of community fields in the Newington or Parramatta local government area.

NSW Sports Minister Stuart Ayres and Cricket NSW announced they would leave their Moore Park base and set their centre of excellence and administration up in Sydney Olympic Park from next year. (AAP Image/Paul Braven)

“There are no other fields, and there is certainly nothing that would be in budget for a small sports club,” he said.

“When we wanted to use the bigger field we paid $1200 for a single nights use, that’s not something we can afford every time we play."

Newington Gunners at their peak had 400 members, but Mr Nilsson said the deteriorating facilities and lack of consultation has lead to almost half of those members to leave.

“Why would you want to play here on this field that doesn’t care about us when you have Gladesville or Canterbury on either side,” he said.

No word has been given by Cricket NSW when the relocation of the facilities will take place, leaving the club lost.

“We assume we’ll be told to leave but we haven’t heard anything, it’s the only area for at least 20,000 local residents to play and now it will be gone.”