Adrian Frater, News Editor

Reno's Merrick Howard (left) locked in a tussle with Naggo Head's Mark Newsome in a Premier League match they won 5-1 at Frome Sports ground in April, last year. Following upgrading work to the surface, Reno are expected to return to their Westmoreland home venue next month. - Photo by Adrian Frater

Western Bureau:

With Frome sports ground, which has been undergoing repairs, now said to be 90 per cent ready, Reno, which have been forced to play their home games in St Elizabeth since last season, are now poised to return home to the Westmoreland venue.

"We will be playing our first home game at STETHS (St Elizabeth Technical High School)," said Patrick Malcolm, the president of Reno FC. "But based on the discussions we have been having with the management at Frome Sugar Estate, we expect to be back at that venue in the first week of October."

The Reno team was forced to vacate the Frome sports ground, their fortress on the three occasions in which they won the Premier League (1990,1991 and 1993) during the 2006-07 season because the playing surface had deteriorated to the extent that it posed a safety risk to players.

However, with the surface now fully restored and ready to accommodate top flight football once again, the Reno management and fans in Westmoreland are looking forward to return to the ground that has brought them so much success.

Additional costs

"We played a practice game on it (Frome) and it held up surprisingly well. However, there is a small area that needs some re-sanding, so we are basically allowing that exercise to be completed," said Malcolm. "Some of the players were hoping we would have started the season there."

While the Reno team was welcomed with open arms by the fans in St Elizabeth, who gave them fabulous support over the two seasons there, Malcolm said playing at STETHS was an extremely costly venture for the club.

"It cost us a minimum of $40,000 to stage a game at STETHS, which is substantially more than the $10,000 it would cost us at Frome," stated Malcolm, noting that playing in St Elizabeth was like playing an away game in terms of transportation costs.

"At STETHS, we have to factor in transportation, alongside advertising and security. Last year, transportation for the season was $1.2 million, which was parti-cularly due to us being on the road every week, either going up to STETHS or playing an away game elsewhere."

Based on Malcolm's projections, coming back to Frome could be a big financial bonanza for the team as, according to him, some of their supporters who were not able to see them during their sojourn inSt Elizabeth are gearing up to throw their support behind the team once again.

"The mood in the parish is very good as our fans can hardly wait to see us back at Frome," said Malcolm. "I am expecting a bumper crown for our first game and once we are playing good football, I expect the support to stay with us."

Reno started their NPL campaign on a disappointing note on Sunday, going down 2-1 to Sporting Central at Brancourt in Clarendon.

However, technical director Wendell Downswell, said he expects the team to rebound quickly.