Vicky Park Rangers: East London girls’ football team has training slot cancelled following ‘processing error’

An east London council has blamed a “processing error” after cancelling a local girls’ football team’s midweek training slot - with the time instead given to a men’s club.

Vicky Park Rangers FC, a team for girls aged between six and 16, released a statement on X earlier today (September 29) in which it claimed Tower Hamlets Council had cancelled its contract with the club “with no notice”. The agreement had allocated its members time to train at Stepney Green astroturf.

Tower Hamlets Council said the error meant Vicky Park Rangers were given a slot intended for another group, and that it is working with them to find a resolution.

In its statement, the club wrote: “For a number of years the club has found it difficult to secure training facilities for midweek training sessions. The club was therefore delighted to be successful in the allocation for the 3G astro pitch at Stepney Green.

“This was a fair application process run by the London Borough of Tower Hamlets to award slots to use the pitches on criteria such as the number of Tower Hamlets residents, whether the club provides for women and girls’ football and the club’s achievements over the last five years.

“The Stepney Green astro is a superb 3G pitch, funded by Sports England [sic] with one of the funding conditions being to ensure it is used to promote women’s football.”

The statement continued to note the contract enabled the club to train at the astro every Thursday between 6pm and 8pm, from September 2023 to August 2026.

However, it claims the council terminated the agreement “with no notice”, and that it has instead allocated the slot to a men’s team “who were unsuccessful in the outcome of the application”.

“On 23 September 2023 the girls arrived to play at the astro pitch to train but were locked out by the council and who allocated a casual boys’ team the facility”.

A Tower Hamlets Council spokesperson has told LondonWorld the issue arose due to a processing error, and that it is working with Vicky Park Rangers FC to find a resolution.

They said: “We fully support and encourage women’s participation in sport in Tower Hamlets, and while our offer of a different timeslot on the same pitch, and our offer of a slot at nearby council-run Leisure Centre at the same cost were both turned down by the club, we continue to try to find a solution that works for everyone.

“To help manage the high demand for astro-pitch hire, applications for its use are scored against a set criteria.

“In this case, a processing error meant that Vicky Park Rangers were originally given a slot which was intended for another group and this was corrected as soon as possible.

“We understand and apologise for the upset and disruption caused to Vicky Park Rangers and we understand that people may be concerned over the handling of this pitch hire.

“We will continue to work with Vicky Park Rangers to find a solution.”

LondonWorld has approached Vicky Park Rangers for further comment. Sport England has also been contacted.