Rhuddlan Town FC is on the brink of extinction after the 143-year-old club had its hopes of finding a new home quashed.

Formed in 1881, the North Wales Coast East Premier Division club is older than giants like Liverpool, Tottenham Hotspur and Newcastle United.

Now the club is facing a crisis after hopes it could securing a lease to use Admirals Field - a community recreation area donated to the people of Rhuddlan by Admiral Rowley Conwy in 1946 - were dashed by Rhuddlan Town Council.

The lease on its current home at Pengwern College runs out in a little over two years.

The club intended to use a new lease on Admirals Field to secure funding from the Football Association of Wales to improve the playing surface and drainage, place supporter barriers around the pitch, build dugouts and changing rooms and a 100-seater stand. 

Restrictive covenants on the gifted land - put in place by the Admiral - prevented the lease being approved however. Last week a Rhuddlan town councillor resigned over the issue and now the club says the decision may be a killer blow. 

"We went to the council to ask for their help," said chairman Wayne Hughes. "We saw Admirals Field as the answer but if not we wanted help to find a Plan B, to work with the council.

"But they have come out against us which is really disappointing. They have suggested we want to create a major stadium when, in reality, we want to find a home in the town and improve football facilities for everyone.

"We know the Rhuddlan Dragons Youth Football Club uses the field and we want to work with them. We don't have a youth programme and we want to create a pathway from age five to senior level with them. The funding we get will improve facilities for them too.

"But we cannot access funding from the FAW - or climb the divisions - without a long-term home with room for fundamental infrastructure. I've been with this club for eight years now in various roles and we really need to move forward now, otherwise the club will die." 

Rhuddlan Town FC needs a long lease - between 10 and 25 years according to Wayne - to access funding from the FAW. Even that would not make it possible to remain at Pengwern however.

As a college for people with learning disabilities and complex needs, additional works would be needed to ensure the safety of students on matchdays which would make the costs prohibitive.

Last week Rhuddlan Town Council reinforced its position on Rhuddlan's proposal for Admiral's Field. 

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"The Admiral gave the field to Rhuddlan Parish Council, our predecessor, in 1946 to be a public recreation ground for the Parish of Rhuddlan," Cllr Mike Kermode told the meeting. "There's a legal covenant to do this. We can't give a lease to organisations otherwise we break the covenant."

He also read an email from Lord Langford, the grandson of Admiral Rowley Conwy.

"The Admiral's intent was to provide a recreational area for the whole community. While one would always like to support the football team, it seems to me, if the current proposal went ahead, it would amount the them effectively taking ownership of the site for their exclusive use.

"I cannot help but feel that this is contrary to the original intent."

Wayne is now appealing to the community for help to save Rhuddlan Town FC - with anyone with ideas or suggestions encouraged to contact the club via its Facebook page. 

"We want to keep this historic club going," he said. "We don't want to lose it and we don't want to spend out final seasons - if that's what they are - fighting.

"We are Rhuddlan Town and we want to play back in the village or as close as we can. We want to work with the Dragons to bridge the gap between junior football - which we don't currently offer - and senior football which the Dragons don't.

"We want to offer people in Rhuddlan the mental and physical health benefits of playing and being involved in sport throughout their life. I myself have anxiety and football has helped me manage that. I want kids in Rhuddlan to start kicking a ball at aged five and then turn out for the senior team in their 20s. 

"But we need help. We need land, we need a lease and we need people to help us. When our current lease finishes we will be 145-year-old - we don't want that to be the end for Rhuddlan Town."