Responses to Letter: Guildford Should Have a Proper Football Ground

1. George Potter Reply

   February 11, 2026 at 7:06 pm

   It is worth noting that it was Guildford City FC who voluntarily chose to sell of their former grounds for housing. GBC may have given planning permission but it was the club’s decision. It is also worth noting that their current (shared) home at The Spectrum was provided by the council as part of the leisure centre’s construction.

   I’d also like to ask if there are any other sports clubs within Guildford that should be given a taxpayer-funded set of sports grounds for themselves alone, or whether it’s just Guildford City FC who Mr Backhurst thinks deserves a multi-million gift from local taxpayers?

   George Potter is a Lib Dem borough councillor for Burpham
   • Angela Richardson Reply

     February 12, 2026 at 2:15 pm

     I see Cllr Potter has been reading Dale Carnegie’s “How to win friends and influence people” again.

     The answer isn’t to play off one sports club against another or to always call on the taxpayer to shoulder the burden. What we need is private, inward investment into sporting facilities, but to attract that investment, we need a council and a town-centre that looks like it’s going places rather than backwards.

     It doesn’t matter what happened all those years ago, it matters what happens now. It sounds like Cllr Potter doesn’t have any ideas. Guildford needs renewal and some visionary leadership.

     Angela Richardson is the former Conservative MP for Guildford
2. Andrew Backhurst Reply

   February 12, 2026 at 3:56 pm

   I was only a small boy when the Joseph Road ground was sold. Cllr Potter is correct, the owners of the original Guildford City FC took the money and sold the ground, and moved the club to Dorking, against the vocal wishes of the people of Guildford.

   The sale of the ground did not require permission from Guildford Borough Council but most towns and cities would have somehow stopped it happening to protect the town’s asset and allow a new club to form in its place.

   Guildford City FC have never asked for hand outs from the council. The club has to pay to play at The Spectrum, while representing the town, as any other football club does. But, all the stands seating and turnstiles were supplied by the current club, not the council.

   Our facilities are very poor compared to other towns of our size and this affects the clubs ability to attract support. We also can’t start our home fixtures until the primary tenant’s, the athletics club, have finished their season, and we have to complete our home fixtures early to accommodate the start of their new season.

   We recently played Alton Town who have a new ground with 4G playing surface which can be used in any weather conditions, the travelling fans all agreed, this is what we need.

   GCFC are a community club run by fan volunteers, and no one that ever ran the former club has anything to do with it.

   What happened to the former club 50+ years ago is a lesson that needs to be learnt. Sports grounds should be owned by the council, on the community’s behalf, and not a private individual to secure against a debt.

   It is the people of the town that have been sold short, every town and many villages in the area have much better grounds than Guildford. Hopefully some, if not all, of the elected borough councillors would wish for something better and can help to make it happen.