CHESTER CITY have applied to become members of the Welsh Premier League.
League secretary John Deakin revealed that he had received an application from Chester that had been signed by club secretary Tony Allan.
And Deakin added that Chester City’s application would be discussed as an agenda item at today’s scheduled Welsh Premier League Board Meeting.
He said: “The Welsh Premier League have received an application from Chester City to join the league and the subject of whether to accept Chester will be on the agenda for today’s League Board Meeting.
“I am well aware of all the idiosyncracies surrounding Chester’s ground location, but the subject of whether to accept Chester into our league will be run past the board today.
“I would prefer not to comment in detail about the application which was signed by Chester’s club secretary.
“But if Chester are accepted into the Welsh Premier League next season it would have an effect on the league’s plans to reduce the number of clubs in the division from 18 to 12.”
Chester, who have won the Welsh Cup on three occasions – 1907/08, 1932/33, and 1946/47 – may also find themselves being a part of an FAW Premier Cup competition which may feature cross-border neighbours Wrexham.
If Chester are included in the new-look Welsh Premier League structure they will be unable to take part in the FA Cup and will not be able to progress back to the Football League system.
Meanwhile, The New Saints have admitted they will not be switching their home venue next season from Oswestry to Chester’s Deva Stadium.
The New Saints club secretary, Ian Williams, confirmed that his club had investigated the possibility of groundsharing with Chester in time for next season’s campaign.
He said: “We were looking into the idea of playing our home fixtures at Chester next season and we had held initial discusssions about the subject with Chester City FC and with the local council.
“The whole process was subject to club licensing regulations and having to provide both the FA of Wales and the Welsh Premier League with a number of guarantees which included security of tenure.
“The details of an agreement had to be in place for a March 1 deadline that had been set by the Welsh Premier League, but we weren’t able to provide the necessary details in time.
“We made a formal request to ensure the use of the Deva Stadium facility for both domestic and UEFA fixtures, but we eventually ran out of time.
“It is now fair to say that we have no option going forward other than to use our existing premises at Oswestry, because we needed to have a draft agreement in place to use Chester’s ground.”