Poppies to put 'battle plan' in place for work at Latimer Park

The Poppies are bidding for promotion on the pitch in the Evo-Stik South League Premier and are currently well-placed to secure a play-off spot at the end of the season.

Should they gain elevation, it will mean a return to the Vanarama National League and it will mean complying with the ground regulations.

The Kettering chairman confirmed there is currently no further news regarding a potential site for a new home in the town after the club revealed they had previously identified an appropriate and, so far, unnamed piece of land.

But he admitted there will be work to do at Latimer Park, where the club are now in possession of a 25-year lease.

“Unfortunately we don’t have an update yet on the ‘new’ ground situation,” Mahoney said.

“I’m afraid this is another case of ‘watch this space’.

“But what has become clear is that we have to work on our immediate home to make sure that we comply with league regulations, for whichever step we’re in next season.

“People shouldn’t read that as a statement that we’ve given up on other options as we haven’t but come the start of the new season we need to have a home that complies to league rules and realistically this will be Latimer Park for 2018-19.

“As you’d expect, we have been in contact with various Ground Grading officials to ensure that we know what’s expected for next season and the requirements are quite different from our league and the next tier up.

“Things don’t necessarily have to be in place for day one of the new season but you do need to meet set requirements whilst having a plan to reach total conformity.

“The board actually met this week to discuss this very topic and a ‘battle plan’ is under construction.

“There will be a lot of activity over the coming months and we will certainly be calling on our supporters to help where they can."