Kingstonian will move 10 miles out of the borough to a stadium in Leatherhead in time for next season, sparking fears among supporters the club will become “nomads”.

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Ks current home of Kingsmeadow, which will become the home to Chelsea's women's team

After months of speculation, the club finally announced yesterday that Ryman League rivals Leatherhead had agreed a rolling contract to share their Fetcham Grove ground, a move the board branded an "effective short term solution".

It means Kingstonian will leave town centre-based Kingsmeadow despite claims from some supporters leaving the borough would be “the death of the club”.

A petition was presented to Kingston Council in 2015, claiming years of a ground share outside the borough would lead to “irreparable damage”.

Ks fan Jamie Cutteridge said: “Because last week people were saying it was going to be Corinthian Casuals [in Kingston], Leatherhead feels like a bit of a kick in the teeth really.

“It’s not in Kingston [town centre], it’s not in Kingston borough, it’s not even in London. It’s not terrible but it’s pretty bleak.

“For older fans it’s going to be quite difficult, for midweek games it’s going to be a nightmare.

“If we don’t have our own ground in 10 years or so then I think the club will be dead or close to dying.”

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Fans rejected the chance to take over the club last year

Ks have to leave Kingsmeadow as leaseholders AFC Wimbledon sold the ground to Premier League Chelsea last year.

Joint chairman Mark Anderson defended the decision, pointing to Leatherhead being able to offer Saturday afternoon kick-off times and the quality of the stadium in comparison to closer grounds such as Corinthian Casuals' King George's Field.

Rumours were rife last week that a deal had been secured a ground share with Casuals, which would have meant only moving as far as Tolworth.

Mr Anderson said: “They were one of the clubs we spoke to. They have a reserve team who play on a Saturday afternoon so they weren’t that keen for us to come in.

“The priorities were always to play on a Saturday afternoon, to play as close to Kingston as possible and to get a deal that was feasible for us to get out of and we weren’t tied down for three or four years.

“If we produce a good team and an attractive team people will still come. We’re fairly content with the choice we’ve made.”

In December last year, supporters voted against taking control from the Kingstonian board amid increasing doubts over the 130-year-old club's future.

Kingston councillor and Ks fan Jon Tolley was on the working party set up to oversee the fan vote on becoming a community owned club.

He said: “It seems like we’re going to be nomads for a very, very long time. It’s just got so bad that we are kind of fading away.”

“I think Mark’s [Anderson] is a good guy. I think they’re all doing what they think is best, but I think they’ve just underestimated how much fans don’t want to travel to Leatherhead.

“I won’t go as much realistically and that is the case for a lot of people.”

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Home sweet home? Ks board hopes to one day move to Chessington

Plans to move to a permanent stadium in the former Chessington Golf Club were presented to supporters last year, but have been cast into doubt over the development’s incursion onto greenbelt land.

London Mayor Sadiq Khan refused a planning permission for building a three-storey football stadium on green belt land in Chislehurst in one of his first acts as mayor.

The Chessington plans include leisure facilities, a swimming pool and an unspecified amount of homes. 

Council leader Kevin Davis said: “I suppose from the football perspective I’m concerned about how long they’re going to be out of the borough because there’s a concern there won’t be a club to come back.

“As it stands there is no policy that allows them to build on the greenbelt. At the moment we haven’t seen the case for it. 

“Do the people of Chessington want a swimming pool? Do they want these facilities? They need to tell us.”

Leatherhead chairman Richard Brady said he was pleased to welcome “friends” Kingstonian to the ground.