City steps in to help club: Floreat Athena Football Club

The ceiling of the changerooms at Litis Stadium collapsed earlier this year and after a site inspection they were closed for use.

As a short-term solution, the club was told it could use Britannia Reserve changerooms but Football West recently advised the club that the arrangement would not be allowed in the 2016 NPL season.

The City last week approved the reallocation of funds from Litis Stadium grandstand remediation works to providing temporary changeroom facilities.

Work on the grandstand will be restricted to parts in need of urgent attention, with the balance of the funds going to the temporary facilities for the remaining term of the lease between the club and the City.

However, the long-term relationship between the City and the club is uncertain, with the lease for Litis Stadium up for renewal.

Mayor John Carey said the council and the club would have to discuss future lease options.

“You’ve got to engage the community and you’ve got to engage the council,” he said.

“We all want them to be in the league.”

Councillors voted to defer the club’s community sporting and recreation facility fund grant application to replace the changerooms. The funding application would have required $928,181 from the City and the same from the Department of Sport and Recreation, with the balance to be made up by the club.

Mr Carey said the club had not adequately consulted with stakeholders and he doubted the Department of Sport and Recreation would have approved the grant after making significant cuts to the program this year.

“They were asking for $1 million from the council,” he said.

“That really came out of the blue.”

The council recommended that the club resubmit a new CSRFF application next year with additional documentation to show its capacity to undertake the project.