THE future of Kidderminster Hockey Club hangs in the balance after they were told they must leave their home ground of the last 25 years.

The club, established in 1892, must look for a new pitch after current hosts King Charles School I agreed a deal with the Football Association to resurface the Comberton Road campus’s pitches.

The deal would see a high-specification artificial surface put down which is ideal for football and rugby but is against English Hockey Association regulations.

Kidderminster have been told they must leave by March.

It means they will have to search for a new venue for three men’s and one women’s teams to play on.Chairman Chris Longmore has warned Kidderminster would be reduced to a nomadic club, playing outside of the town or worse.

One option is to move to neighbours Stourport Hockey Club but that could only happen if Wyre Forest District Council, which owns the club’s home, can find the funding to open a third pitch.The club, whose clubhouse is based at Chester Road Sports and Social Club, must find the new pitch by September, 2012 in readiness for the winter league.

Mr Longmore said he was shocked when he was informed by the school of its plans.

He said: “I felt it was a stab in the back – we’d not been included in the consultation.“If we had known about the plan in advance then we could have gone to the English Hockey Association about getting some funding.We’ve been left with very little time to find a new home in time for next season.

“The worst case scenario is the club won’t be able to find somewhere to play in time for the start of next year's winter league and we’d be forced to close.”

King Charles I School headteacher Tim Gulliver defended the tie-up with the FA, believing the deal would benefit not only the school but the wider community as well.

The FA would provide half the £500,000 needed to complete the work, with the school well on the way to raising the other half.

The facility will also be open to local residents in the evenings and at weekends.

“Our current pitch is 30 years old and should probably have been relayed a decade ago," explained Mr Gulliver. “Unfortunately, to replace the entire surface would cost £500,000, which is something the school could not afford to do on its own.

“Entering an agreement with a large professional organisation such as the FA means there are certain caveats which will need to be met.

“Obviously, the FA's main priority is going to be football, while we planning to focus more of our time on rugby as well. As a result, we have decided to opt for a high-performance surface, rather than one