HUNDREDS of football fans from across the country are showing their support for Braintree Town Football Club as it battles to find a new home.

In an interview published in The Times on July 20, club chairman Lee Harding spoke of his fears for the future of the club if local plan proposals go ahead.

The site of the club’s training facilities has been allocated for housing in the plan, a move that could leave the club without access to the away section of stadium on match days, without any car park facilities or able to use the training facilities.

The lease on the training pitch, owned by Braintree Council, expires in 2030, however in the plan, the site is expected to accommodate sixty homes over the next five years.

Any building on the site would require Braintree Council to reach an agreement with the club regarding the lease.

Dan Cook, of Great Dunmow, has been a Braintree Town fan for around 20 years and decided to start the petition along with several other fans.

He said: “I am on a committee at the club. We thought it was time to take some action with what is going on.

“A lot of fans are worried about the situation at the moment. The fans are very very loyal to the club at Braintree.

“We want the council to see there are a lot people out there that are willing to support the club.”

The petition, started on Monday evening, has already attracted signatures from fans of football clubs across the UK.

So far, more than 1,200 people have signed the online petition, directed towards Braintree Council, Braintree’s MP James Cleverly and the Department for Sport Media and Culture.

The club have been looking for a new home since 2004.

It was believed that a solution had been found, in conjunction with Braintree Council at a new site behind the Springwood Drive Industrial Estate, but the proposals collapsed last year. Mr Harding met the council last week to discuss how both parties could work together.

He said: “The meeting was positive and they have welcomed the idea of us putting in a business plan as to how we see ourselves moving forward.

“We have made our representation, as we are invited to as consultees, on the local plan and we have expressed our concerns about the plans to build housing on our training pitch.

“I know the fans are worried about it, as the club are. But we are talking positively with the council at the moment to keep the club alive.”

Visit http://bit.ly/2w0Ok5t to see the petition.