Mellor slams Council as club hits crisis

Jim Mellor and Mark White highlight the poor state of the Filey Road facilities

The courts at the current sports centre site will be sold as part of the deal to build the Weaponness Leisure Village, but no tennis courts are to be built at the new facility, leaving the club in the wilderness.

Mellor fumed: “There is no doubt that we feel the club has been terribly badly used.

“The price of bringing football back to Scarborough should not be the loss of a well-managed, financially sound tennis club with eight league teams, who if lost could never be replaced.”

Scarborough Tennis Club will attempt to merge with another locally based club, the only option open to them rather than folding altogether.

“We feel the merger is a right decision to keep the club together and help build a bigger and better club elsewhere,” added Mellor.

“We are going to make the decision of which club to approach later this month and plans for this are well in advance.”

In addition to the move to Weaponness not accounting for the club, their base at Filey Road has been left to deteriorate into a state of dilapidation, much to the anger of Mellor.

He added: “The place is just falling down. The Borough Council, who own it, have allowed it to get in this state of dereliction for the last 30 to 40 years and now plan to sell it for development to pay for the new sports centre at Weaponness.

“We were forced off the grass courts here on the centre court and the three top grass courts over 20 years ago and now play on the four hard courts at the back of the centre.

“These courts are also in very poor condition and really puts the town to shame when we have visiting teams from the Yorkshire League and Driffield League.”

Chairman Mellor admits the club would’ve been delighted to be included in the switch to Weaponness.

He added: “At first we thought we would move to Weaponness and we would’ve been pleased to be part of the new sports village.

“Over five years ago we were told that a new tennis club would be built for us at Bramcote.

“At our last meeting with the Council it was made very clear to us that this was not going to happen, particularly in the short-term, and in time for the closure of the Filey Road site.

“This caused us a great deal of consternation, and to a large extent, frustration and anger directed at the Council.

“It has made us have a major re-think about our future and how to keep the club together.”