Grays to leave Aveley for Tilbury

Grays Athletic have had ten moderately happy years sharing with Aveley at both their old ground and their new one- we say moderately because they'd much rather have a home of their own. As of next season, however, they'll be moving their temporary base to Chadfields, home of local rivals Tilbury, although we hope they'll soon get the chance to move in to Thurrock's former Ship Lane, which has sat empty for a number of years now.

In a statement, Athletic explained:

'With the cost of living issues that individuals and businesses are facing, as expected, clubs that rent their grounds to other teams are going to be looking at charging higher rates to cover their costs and the challenge for us is to find an affordable groundshare that will enable us to still be competitive at this level.

With this in mind, we are pleased to announce that Grays Athletic have accepted an offer from Tilbury FC to share at the EMR Stadium at Chadfields next season and their new stadium during the following campaign. The club is extremely grateful to Tilbury FC Chairman, Danny Nash and his committee for accommodating us and we look forward to building on the good relationship between our two clubs.
We are aware that some of our supporters will be disappointed that we will no longer be playing at Parkside, whilst others will be pleased about the move, especially if this helps them geographically and with transport links.

Lastly and importantly, Grays Athletic would like to play tribute to all at Aveley FC for their help over the ten seasons we have ground shared with them at Mill Field and the fantastic new facility at Parkside.'

Read more here.

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