"It is disappointing that yet again Nuneaton RFC has been unable to reach agreement to play on the stadium pitch. Unfortunately there is a long history of obstruction by the owners of Nuneaton Borough FC since it failed to honour the original groundshare between the two Clubs.

"It is therefore very sad to recall that Nuneaton RFC offered Nuneaton Borough a home when it could not find one in the rest of the town. The ground was sold on the basis that there would be a groundshare for 125 years between the two Clubs. Sadly the then owner of Nuneaton Borough ripped up the groundshare and relations between the two Clubs have been poor ever since.

"Recently matters seemed to improve when Nick Hawkins became Chairman of Nuneaton Borough. After productive discussion he initially offered Nuneaton RFC use of the pitch for free. He later changed his mind and offered use for £250. This was still considered reasonable by Nuneaton RFC given wear and tear and the very occasional use of floodlights. After agreement and at the last moment Mr Hawkins changed the deal again and stated he now wanted access across Nuneaton RFC land for football supporters to use stadium turnstiles. Normal business practice would be for Nuneaton RFC to charge for access given that Mr Hawkins wants access in order to generate revenue. In the spirt of cooperation Nuneaton RFC therefore offered access over its private land at the same cost as hire of the stadium even though this is clearly much lower than its actual worth.

"Unfortunately Mr Hawkins then terminated negotiation over a groundshare. This is disappointing. This season Nuneaton RFC were only seeking use of the stadium for 3 home games whilst access over Nuneaton RFC land would have been granted to Nuneaton Borough for a minimum of 13 home games in return.

“Nuneaton RFC are a famous Senior Club with a distinguished history. It would be for the good of the town, residents and the community for both Clubs to work together in a spirit of mutual cooperation. Nuneaton RFC still hope this will be the case in future and remain open to further discussion despite the many frustrations with the behaviour of football club owners over recent years."