Gorleston Football Club to return home to Gorleston Recreation Ground

After leaving Emerald Park three seasons ago, the club is delighted to announce that all the teams from Youth to Adults will play at Gorleston Recreation Ground on a phased approach as the site becomes its new home. 

GFC moved to the Recreation Ground in 1889, with the first match at the new ground played on November 9, a 2-0 win over Yarmouth St Pauls. The record attendance of 4,473 was set in 1951 for an FA Cup first round replay against Orient. In 1982 the club left the Recreation Ground to move to Emerald Park.

The agreement between GYBC and Gorleston FC will see the site rehome some youth teams immediately and work towards benefiting the local community through some engaging community outreach work. This exciting opportunity will enable the club to reengage the local community that has not been possible with the adult set-up playing outside of Gorleston. 

While phase one of this project will be completed in the coming weeks, a second phase is also planned to develop new infrastructure to enable the football club's adult teams to return to Gorleston Recreation Ground.

After signing the agreement, the club said: ''This is a massive step forward for the football club in terms of identifying a sustainable home ground. Being able to return the adult section of the club to the venue where it all began is particularly special for all those that remember the site as the original home of the football club. What we will be able to achieve for all our players and, most importantly, the local community will be long lasting and of huge benefit. 

We would like to thank Chairman Jamie Humphries, Vice Chairman Graham Hacon and Director of Football Gavin Coe who have led the work with Great Yarmouth Borough Council to secure the return of the club to Gorleston Recreation Ground and will oversee the work needed to start the next phase of development on the site.  

Although there will be plenty of steps to take to achieve the vision, the club said it is hugely grateful to several key partner organisations, in particularl Great Yarmouth Borough Council. which has been super engaged in the proposed developments to help it to get to this point in the project. The club says it looks forward to working with them all as the vision of the project starts to take shape. 

Carl Smith, leader of Great Yarmouth Borough Council, said: ''We are delighted the hard work with all those involved means Gorleston Football Club will finally be coming home to the Recreation Ground. This is a really positive outcome and means the club can hopefully look to build on its success with a solid future at Gorleston Recreation Ground after being based outside of the town for many years. The council was always supportive around what is great news for the club, the fans and the wider borough.''

Matt Carpenter, CEO Norfolk FA said: "It's fantastic news that Gorleston FC will be relocating back to Gorleston Recreation Ground. Norfolk County FA are committed to working with the football club to support their return to a permanent home, and we look forward to seeing the famous green shirts back in action at a venue that holds so much history and nostalgia to both the football club and Norfolk football.

''The development of the new football infrastructure on Gorleston Recreation Ground will deliver a significant range of outcomes aligned to grassroots football participation and, importantly, will benefit the wider Gorleston community."