They thought it was all over for a cherished community sports ground, but council bosses hope to score with lovers of the beautiful game.

Saturday and Sunday football is a sporting institution in Gravesham and one of the homes of football in the area, if not the most well-known, was definitely Fleet Leisure and Sports Club, in Nelson Road, Northfleet.

Financial trouble saw the ground close in September 2013, but after more than a year of it sitting locked up and disused, Gravesham council has declared plans to re-open it.

Kent Online can exclusively reveal the council has bought back the lease for £50,000.

Council leader Cllr John Burden explained it was too early to set an opening date but its future looked promising.

He said: “We’re looking at the grounds at the moment, we’re talking to Gravesham Community Leisure Ltd who are currently running our other leisure centres, Cascades and Cygnets.

“We are also looking to talk to local football clubs who practiced there and are in the area, to see what they would require on the site.”

The closure of the ground, known by many as Beauwater’s, brought an end to 81 years of community sports use.

While the site was owned by Gravesham council, the business operating from there was owned by Fleet Leisure Ltd.

That company went into administration in April 2013, with FRP Advisory appointed as administrator, after a “deterioration in trading conditions”.

The business continued to trade while it was up for sale, though plans by Ebbsfleet Utd FC to buy it fell through in July.

In 2005, former owner Kimberley-Clark sold the site, which was then Beauwater Leisure, to Gravesham council while Fleet Leisure took on the lease to run the facilities.

The facility was well-used by the community and a staple of local life with football, cricket, tennis and bowls played on its grounds. The social club at Fleet Leisure played host to functions, with balls, wedding receptions and New Year’s Eve parties all taking place, not to mention the screening of football matches and other sporting events.

More than 20 people worked there, with almost all losing their jobs when it closed.

The council plans to carry out extensive refurbishment work on the site, replacing the changing rooms and social club with new facilities. The former buildings were out-dated and in a shabby state.

Council chiefs also have plans to install a gym as well as repairing the pitches, which have since fallen into a poor state.

Cllr Burden said sports would be the future of the ground, quashing rumours circulating about a small housing development being built instead.

He said: “We’re deciding about how to take it [the site] forward.

“We have to do what is right for the site and the area and do what the community needs, not just rush to find a solution.

“We want to take the time to get it right but we’re hoping to be done in the next few months.”

Cllr Burden explained that one of the reasons the process had taken longer than expected was because of the poor state the grounds were left in.

However, he said the council had been taking “positive steps” throughout and that various funding streams were now being evaluated.

He said: “This is really good news for people who believe in sport and football because our intention is to bring back the facility.”