Enniskillen Rangers Football Club have finally been given the go-ahead to develop two pitches at Woaghternerry after they succesfully won their appeal against the planning refusal for the site which was made in 2009. The Planning Appeals Commission heard the case on Tuesday, November 23 and the club received written notification on Thursday last thereby ending a four year wait from when the initial plan was submitted to the Planning Department. Rangers will develop two full size playing fields and car parking at Aughaward Road just off the Coa Road and just past Cavanaleck.

In so doing, a six year process to find a new home after the club was displaced when Tesco bought their previous home at Derrychara looks set to reach a successful end.

The club was compensated for that loss and will now look to invest the monies in bringing to fruition two full size pitches and car parking in a fully enclosed arena.

Club secretary Mark Conway was delighted with the announcement.

�It was great to get the word last Thursday. It has been a frustrating time given that the original application was made in September 2006 but we got a very fair hearing at the Planning Appeals Commission and we are just glad to be moving forward. In 2007, the club was playing Division Three football and in a planning log jam so it has been pleasing to turn that around but we also know that there is much work still to be done. We have a young side battling hard in Division One and hopefully this will be another boost in that respect,� explained the secretary who added. �I would like to publicly thank all those people who supported us in our appeal, Arlene Foster, Michelle Gildernew and Tom Elliott all gave us their backing as did local sporting clubs. Fermanagh District Council has also shown due patience as we have searched for a new ground while our architect John O�Brien has been fantatsic throughout the whole process. It is wrong that in 2010, that the town of Enniskillen does not have an enclosed football arena. We are not making any grand plans but we will initially build the two pitches and the car parking and try to keep progressing the club both on and off the pitch.

�The successful youth section is helping produce the players capable of sustaining this club in the long term and at last we can now provide all the players in the club, youth and senior, with facilities to match. There is a lot of talk about a Fermanagh and Western Intermediate League at the moment and we will be watching that with some interest but we will have to establish ourselves first in the Fermanagh and Western Division One, build our facilities and then see where we are. It is good news and something that everyone in the club can look forward to.� The secretary concluded: �Enniskillen Rangers has a rich history and we will be holding an information evening in January for anyone who may have an interest in helping us in any way. This is a new chapter in the club�s history and certainly anyone who has played a part down the years has a right to be involved and we would welcome any new blood as well.� Club chairman Malachy Love added: �It is important that people see what we intend to do with the money the club received from the Tesco deal and that is why we will be holding the information evening. The club could easily have sat back but we pushed on and worked hard to win this appeal. We want to invest in a project that will be good for Enniskillen Rangers and improve the sporting infrastructure in Enniskillen. This can only be good news for sport in Enniskillen and Fermanagh irrespective of what club or sport you subscribe to.�