Cheltenham Town’s promotion battle will decide where the Charity Cup final is played says league chairman John Hunt.
The Cheltenham Charity Cup begins on April 3 but the venue of the final is still yet to be confirmed. League officials are hoping that they can finish the tournament at Cheltenham Town’s Johnny Rock’s Stadium.
However, this will only be possible if the Robins gain automatic promotion. Should Cheltenham drop into the play-offs their stadium would be in use throughout May and thus would not be free for the cup final.
Hunt said: “We are hoping that Cheltenham Town might turn around and say look we need our ground up until May but after that you can use it.
“It would be perfect for us if Cheltenham Town could get into those automatic promotions spots and hopefully we’ll know by early May time.”
He added: “Once it is confirmed they will contact us and give us confirmation that we can use their pitch.”
The Cheltenham League usually hold the final of the Senior Charity Cup at Whaddon Road, however, this year they are hoping to hold both the senior and the junior cup finals at the Johnny Rock’s Stadium.
“It would be a great bonus to have if we could use the ground and if we can have the two finals on the same day. By that time, we may even be able to get some type of crowd in which would be the best scenario.”
Should Cheltenham disappoint fans across the county and not hold onto to automatic promotion, alternative arrangements will be made for the Charity Cup final. This may also be necessary if the fight for the top three goes to the final day.
Hunt said: “If they drop down into the play-offs then it unlikely that the pitch will be unavailable and we will have to use somewhere like Bishop’s Cleeve instead.
“The issue is we can’t wait too long to find out as we need to start organising things. So, it may be the case that even though it’s a fantastic option we have to write it off as we need to get things moving.”
