THE foot and mouth crisis is being blamed for the delay in constructing much-needed mini-soccer pitches in Tavistock's Crowndale Valley — and has also pushed a £23,000 grant perilously close to its deadline.
Chairman of Crowndale Recreation Association John Warne hopes work on the seven pitches will be started this autumn, pending consultation with the farmer who has grazed animals on the land.
He is also hoping the Football Association will understand the difficult circumstances the CRA has faced.
The FA granted the CRA £23,000 in April to build the pitches, which it hopes could be the start of a national flagship project for football.
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Mr Warne said: 'At the beginning of the foot and mouth problem we voluntarily withdrew from Crowndale — then it became a necessity anyway with the outbreak at Gulworthy.
'Our grant expires on September 20. I have written to the FA explaining the problems we have had and we are hoping to get the actual work started around the beginning of October.'
Not only did foot and mouth jeopardise the FA grant, it also cost the CRA lost revenue in bookings for the land at Crowndale.
'We had a travelling circus that wanted to come and a motorcycle stunt team — it's amazing how we got impacted by it,' said Mr Warne.
The CRA were awarded a £500 grant for revenue lost due to the crisis, which Mr Warne said was 'better than a kick in the teeth' but still did not cover the money lost.
The mini-soccer pitch project is likely to take 12 months to complete as the pitch has to be seeded and left to settle.
In the meantime, Mr Warne said a further, much larger, grant application to the FA fully to develop the 12-acre site in the Crowndale Valley is likely to be submitted later this year.
This project would include changing and social facilities and is being worked up in conjunction with Tavistock Football Club, said Mr Warne.
'We are meeting with the FA officials on September 7 to talk over the plans and find the best way of taking it forward,' he said.
'We really want to get things started because once you get going, there's hope for everyone and fundraising gets easier.'
The mini pitches at Crowndale would provide a home base for the thriving youth football teams in Tavistock, who at the moment have to use Plymouth grounds for home games.