PARENTS are crying 'foul' over a dispute between a junior football club and the Army which they say is affecting their children's love for the beautiful game.
Supporters of Upton Junior Football Club are concerned their children are picking up on bad feeling between the club and soldiers at the Dale Barracks in Moston, where teams have trained weekly for the last 10 years.
They claim that in the last year the club has suddenly had to endure soldiers patrolling the pitches with guns and nasty comments made within earshot of children.
But the Army has hit back, claiming the club is not sticking to the terms of its agreed licence and is using more than the one pitch allocated them.
Two UJFC teams have had to move to Kingsway High School because construction work is taking place on their usual pitch, and two other pitches are marked out with plastic cones because the club was stopped from painting lines on the pitch as usual.
Kevin Stanley, whose sons Jake, eight, and Brad, 11, play for Upton, said the problems have affected the club's 330 players aged six to 16.
'The boys and girls definitely pick up on it. A couple of years ago they had nicely marked-out pitches, we used to go up on mowers to make it look nice.
'Now they go on Saturday mornings and they see soldiers with guns standing around, they are hearing bad things said about their parents and struggling to work out where the pitch is. Lots of parents have heard their kids say they don't want to go anymore.'
Kevin, from Hoole, added parents were shocked to see armed soldiers begin patrolling the pitches in January.
'We know it's an Army camp and there has to be personnel walking about, but we have been here for donkey's years and they never needed guns before.
'Some of the kids thought it was exciting, others, especially some of the little girls, saw these guys fully kittedup and with guns and were scared. They ask us why this is happening and we can't explain it to them because we don't know ourselves.'
With the issue of child obesity raging in the Press, Kevin is surprised the Army are not more pro-active in encouraging organised sports.
'Clubs like Upton take over 300 kids off the streets and give them discipline and exercise. The Army should be bending over backwards to make a good impression on the kids, because some of them will be thinking of joining up in a few years' time.'
Neil Morgan, chairman of Upton FC said: 'We are in lengthy negotiations with the army to try to resolve the situation and find a way forward that is mutually beneficial to both parties.'
An Army spokesman said: 'As long as the football club keeps to the terms of the licence agreed between us both, the Army is happy for them to play here. But there is some concern that the football club is not sticking to the terms of the agreed licence.
'The licence entitles the club to use one pitch only on Saturdays and Sundays, which is designed to maintain the good condition of the pitches for when the soldiers come to use them. It is clear that the club uses much more than one pitch and has even marked out its own additional pitches.
'As a result, the pitches have been damaged, which at times has made it difficult for the soldiers to play on.
'The battalion based at Dale Barracks is currently deployed on operations in Afghanistan. Once the unit, 1st Battalion the Worcestershire and Sherwood Foresters, returns from this important tour of duty in April, a meeting will be arranged when we can hopefully reach a solution to the benefit of all concerned.'
