A VILLAGE football club claims it is being driven out of its long term home by a raft of 'unreasonable' rules and regulations imposed upon it by the council which administers the playing field.

After over 100 years as a football club, Govilon AFC now faces the prospect of playing all its home games at the Abergavenny Thursdays' Pen-y-Pound ground as Llanfoist Community Council has proposed a series of charges for use of the King George V playing field in the village for matches and training sessions.

Since the ground was intensively developed by the club in 2005/6 to remove the pronounced slope it is widely regarded as one of the best playing surfaces in South Wales and team officials say that the decision to move grounds has been 'devastating'

The council however defends it decision to impose the increased charges, saying that the playing field is not a private football club and should be used for the benefit of the whole community.

The King George V Playing Field in Govilon is a charitable playing field with Llanfoist Fawr Community Council as trustees (under the guidance of Fields In Trust Cymru) and the council says that it is the duty of the trustees to ensure that the recreation ground is available for all who may wish to use any of the facilities.

In a further blow to the club the council has also moved to employ contractors to tend to the playing fields, which have for many years been maintained on a weekly basis by Govilon AFC's own groundsman.

This decision - seen as the final blow - has left many involved with the club concerned that all the hard work put in over the years by the ground staff has been rendered null and void as they believe any contractors employed by the community council will not have the necessary expertise to ensure the ground remains of a standard for Gwent County Division One football.

A spokesman for Govilon AFC said, "This is devastating news especially when we, and in particular our groundsman Andrew Norman, have worked so hard over the last six years to make the pitch one of the finest playing surfaces in Gwent.

"It really is difficult to understand why they needed to do this especially as the council will now have to pay all the costs associated with maintenance, not least the fortnightly mowing of the pitch, which the football club had been happy to bear. This is not a good decision for the football club, nor the council taxpayers of Monmouthshire who fund community councils."

With the battles lines drawn, Llanfoist Fawr Community Council claims that in the past years the football club and its supporters have taken over the ground and led people to believe that it is a private football club.

A spokesperson for Llanfoist Fawr Community said, "Govilon AFC's members and supporters appear to perceive this ground as 'their football club' and put out a large sign on match days proclaiming that this was the case – when in fact it is not and cannot be a private football club but has to be a public recreation ground.

"We recognise that the club has kept the pitch in excellent condition. However the charitable trust clearly requires that the pitch and facilities are to be used for the benefit of the whole community. We are also aware, from local members of the public, that although this is a public recreation ground it was perceived as being Govilon AFC and the impression was that no-one else could use the area."

The issue came to a head when Llanfoist Fawr Community Council was approached by a local charity - Govilon Village Hall Committee - which called for the field to be redeveloped to increase local use and not to be used as a facility for Govilon AFC alone.

"We were made aware that people connected with Govilon AFC have made it known that local children/ teenagers were not to use the area," said the council spokesman.

"We have also been informed that other local teams were quietly warned that this was Govilon AFC's ground and that no-one else could play there as the club used and maintained the ground - no doubt this stopped extra wear and tear and contributed to it being a very good football ground but was hardly fair on children or other people trying to have fun at their local rec.

"As trustee the council must ensure that the ground is available for all to use. It was felt that the way to stop this happening was to show that the ground was being treated as any other Monmouthshire recreation ground and being cut regularly by Monmouthshire County Council – therefore showing it was not a 'special piece of ground' but part of a public recreation ground for all to use.

"The rest of the recreation ground has always been cut, under a contract, by MCC and therefore it seemed reasonable to ask that they include the pitch area in the regular cutting."

Govilon AFC, however, feels that the increased costs for use of the ground are unfair and 'galling'

"The new charges are even more galling when we are struggling to pay off the last lot of debt incurred when we levelled the pitch," said a Govilon spokesman

"To cap it all, the council has also instructed the football club to remove all football items, such as nets, corner flags, line marking machine etc, from the Sports Pavilion at the Recreation Ground or risk having them put into a skip. It will be even more difficult to run the club now that these items have been taken off site, as the pavilion was the only suitable storage nearby," he said.

Defending the charges Llanfoist Fawr Community Council said, "We consider annually the requests to hire the Govilon Sports Pavilion and football pitch. This year, for the first time in many years, there was interest from other groups in using the facilities, therefore when the hire conditions were set in July 2013 the council had to consider how the facilities were likely to be used and what was a reasonable cost.

"Research was done as to the cost of hire of other local similar facilities and in line with the Llanfoist Recreation Ground a fee of £10 per hour was agreed for the use of the pitch and £10 per hour for the use of the Govilon Sports Pavilion.

"Llanfoist Fawr Community Council has no issues with Govilon AFC hiring the ground to play football and was shocked at its decision to move from the village. We make it fully clear on our website that anyone is permitted to hire the facilities in the King George V Playing Field and would welcome any groups, including Govilon AFC, hiring and using the facilities."

"Govilon AFC has been the sole user of the Pavilion for many years and we have repeatedly requested the club does not use it for storage in order to permit other people to be able to use/hire the public facility.

"With our support Govilon did eventually obtain a container to use for storage and agreed to move out all of its equipment but in a very short space of time it was subject to a burglary and all equipment that was not stolen or was replaced was moved back into the Sports Pavilion.

"We waited for nearly a year before insisting that Govilon AFC complied with the request to remove its property from the pavilion, because the building and recreation ground is not football club property and we have been working to enhance these facilities in a community that is sadly lacking in good public facilities.

"Historically Govilon AFC has been warned on many occasions that the filthy condition of the Govilon Sports Pavilion was not acceptable and great leniency has been shown considering that this is a public facility – partly funded from the community council precept.

"Nearly £20,000 is now available to start a very necessary upgrade of the facility. Our plan was that once the private equipment was removed we would be able to hire a skip to remove any damaged, outdated unsalvageable items to ready the pavilion for building work.

"This is due to commence in the not too distant future, following a small delay whilst we try to obtain extra funding to do a full refurbishment rather than just partial improvement. Govilon AFC is fully aware of this project and was consulted on what was required to help them in the current football league."

The council also highlighted a further anomaly which could make the club's use of the charity playing field an issue and threaten its entry to Welsh league football.

"The success of Govilon AFC in reaching Gwent County Division one has unfortunately highlighted a conflict in what is required for the league and what is required for a charitable recreation ground," said the council's spokesman.

"Earlier this year Govilon AFC had hoped to reach the Welsh Football League and approached Llanfoist Fawr Community Council to have a stand erected as this is one of the conditions of entry. The council gave permission and supported the planning application to Brecon Beacon National Parks.

"However on checking the rules for playing Welsh League Football it quickly became apparent when the council liaised with the Welsh Football League and Fields In Trust Cymru that the charitable status of the field made it unsuitable for use as a football ground for Welsh League Football.

Govilon AFC supporters however remain convinced that the 'Draconian measures' which have brought about the loss of the club could be the final nail in the coffin of the village which has already lost its school and post office - especially as match days bring increased custom to its two public houses.

However much it regrets the football club's decision, Llanfoist Fawr Community Council remains resolute.

"Llanfoist Fawr Community Council feels that Govilon AFC is an important institution for the village and we are sad that the club has chosen to walk away but we would like to stress that Govilon AFC was not asked to leave the King George V playing field," said a spokesman.

"The Llanfoist Fawr Community Council very much hopes that Govilon AFC continues to use the facilities at the King George V playing fields in Govilon and asks only that the club is willing to follow the very reasonable guidelines which are required by the charitable trust for the benefit of the community as a whole," she added.