HARRIERS chairman Colin Gordon has urged town businesses to support his plans to transform Kidderminster with state-of-the-art stadium and education facilities.

Plans are now well underway as Gordon looks to realise his dream of a new base away from Aggborough.

The proposed new site is situated at the current Centre of Sporting Excellence on Zortech Avenue, which is already home to the club's football academy and a training base to the first team.

Under the proposals, the new venue would encompass a new, purpose-built stadium for Harriers, as well as a large training complex which would house all of the youth, academy and senior teams. In addition, the site would also feature university facilities for all age groups.

The club’s relocation would also make Aggborough available for redevelopment.

Gordon now hopes supporters, residents and businesses can all help him hand the town a major economic boost.

He said: "It's all on track. We are working on our business case for the council.

"We want to be able to provide university degree courses for our students and build a university that goes into the new stadium so we're using the stadium 24/7.

"We'll be bringing 1,000-plus students plus our further education students into Kidderminster, which will bolster the economy beyond belief, create jobs, create wealth and we can hopefully be a league club and a sustainable league club.

"Too many times in the past we have relied on benefactors to support the club without any thought to how we are going to support ourselves going forward.

"It will have a great benefit to not just Kidderminster but the whole of the Wyre Forest district. Every employer will have better quality people to choose from and a lot of those employers will benefit from the things we're doing and the general economy will be boosted beyond recognition. From a failing carpet town, we'll become a university town.

"Really it is a call to everybody to get in touch, get behind us, because we are going to make this town prosperous again.

"You might well be a supplier, a house builder and electrician, whatever it might be, we're going to have opportunities for you and your companies moving forward.

"We need to build a brand new stadium, there are houses probably going on Aggborough and tons of other opportunities. We are changing the whole profile of the town. For the people who have looked after us, we are going to be looking after them.

"We want to support local business as long as local business wants to support us.

"You know where we are, come and get involved."

The Harriers chief also hopes the development will be a catalyst for on-field success.

"Going forward the future is fantastic but in the short term we've still got that hole that I inherited that still hurts the football club in these months," he added.

"We have cashflow issues at the moment but the future for us is very, very bright and those cashflow issues can be resolved by sponsors, companies, people getting involved and people wanting to have a role to play within the football club.

"I've probably put in £1.5 million and people still talk about my motives. It's not all about an education business because if it was I'd be happy to sit in mid-table and that would be it. But it's about winning football matches as well.

"We need to look to move forward with these plans otherwise the club is just not sustainable.

"We have to look at the bigger picture now and we've got to be able to afford the success we're hoping to achieve."