A MID Devon football club is hoping to score with plans for an all-weather pitch that will enable it to bag its community ambitions.

Tiverton Town FC has submitted plans for a 3G pitch on the site of an existing grass pitch to help it host a wider range of teams.

The club, at Ladysmead on Bolham Road, already has six of its own teams, including the men’s and women’s first teams respectively, but a potential merger with another club could bring more.

Matthew Conridge, the vice chairman at Tiverton Town FC, said the planning application was “all part of our community focus plan”.

“This club has long been one team, and it has been successful, but these types of clubs aren’t sustainable, where you’re backed by one or a few financial backers,” he said.

“You need to be community-focused and that’s what we’re doing. The way to achieve that is to have a facility that caters for everyone, which in this instance is a synthetic pitch.

“With the level of the water table here and being in a flood plain, we need a proper facility for all teams to participate.”

That would include its inclusive Ability Counts team, and also better prepare the club for a potential merger that it is pursuing with Twyford Spartans, which has 15 youth teams split between boys’ and girls’ teams.

Mr Conridge said the club was “halfway through” amalgamating the two teams, and that the move would help broaden its involvement in the community.

“The way for us to become more sustainable is to get more people involved, and if we have around 24 teams, each of those players has family members and so aregoing to have some type of contact with the club,” he said.

“They’ll do things like use the bar and cafe more, hire out function rooms and more people will come to watch the first team. All that helps generate revenue that can be reinvested into facilities to make the club better.”

Documents submitted with the planning application to Mid Devon District Council state the existing grass pitch has “significant limitations” in the wetter months.

“Its use is restricted to the men’s first team only during this period,” the document stated.

“This constraint means that a number of other club teams are currently unable to make productive use of the facility when it is most needed.

“The installation of a 3G pitch would transform this position entirely.

“The all-weather surface would allow year-round use by a much wider range of users, including the men’s under-18s and under-16s age group sides, the women’s first team, the women’s under-18s, youth teams, and any community groups seeking access to quality sports facilities in the Tiverton area.

“This would represent a substantial increase in the number of people directly benefiting from the facility.”

Mr Conridge said while the new 3G pitch, if approved, would mainly be for the club’s use, there would also be private hire opportunities.

It is not yet known when Mid Devon District Council will consider the application.