Basingstoke Town FC faced a training nightmare ahead of their Hampshire Cup final as they had to practice in a public park due to the unavailability of pitches.

With the cup final against the academy team of Premier League side AFC Bournemouth scheduled for Wednesday, May 10, Basingstoke Town had to train at Winklebury park on Monday, May 8, since all other pitches in the town were unavailable.

The club's star player Brad Wilson has even suffered a twisted ankle and bruised toe due to the poor conditions of the public park, just 48 hours before the final at Fratton Park in Portsmouth.

The club which had their own training pitches at Camrose ground, are now at the mercy of the availability of private pitches in Basingstoke.

Basingstoke Town chairman Jack Miller revealed that this is a common issue faced by all the teams in the town, as there is a distinct lack of bookable pitches.

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“It's just tricky to find pitches for all of our teams at the best of times,” Mr Miller said.

“When we had the Camrose ground, we had our own pitches and the 3G pitches behind, which we could use when we wanted. Whereas now we're struggling to find pitches for not just the first team, but for the other teams as well.”

The team usually trains at Winklebury football complex, which will also be undergoing upgrades next season, but that won't improve the usage of it, as it's booked by lots of different teams.

The club's bookings at Winklebury complex ended as the season concluded.

Mr Miller said the council knows about the lack of training pitches in Basingstoke and has section 106 money from the Camrose planning development to put replacement facilities in for the club.

“But as yet, we've not seen where they're gonna go, or the council even talk about it," Mr Miller added.

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He said he did not want to comment on Wilson’s injury, but said it was far from ideal.

“The team themselves couldn't do any sort of shake work or phases of play. The whole session was just ended early.

“The grass hadn't been mowed as well. So it was just tricky. It is a council thing to at least mow the grass."

Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council has been contacted for a comment on section 106 funds available and its plan to provide replacement facilities for the club.