AN HISTORIC Newport hockey club fears it will be left without a home following the approval of plans to build a home for Welsh football in Spytty.

Newport Gwent Ladies Hockey Club will no longer be able to use the astroturf pitch at Newport's International Sports Village because it will be removed to make way for the £5 million home for the Wales football squad.

There are no other league-approved full size pitches in Newport and the nearest suitable ones are in Cwmbran or Risca.

But the club, which has been in the city for 120 years, is reluctant to move and fear a relocation could jeopardise its future.

Captain Emily Meredith said: "People might say it's for sentimental reasons but it's a big city and we do not want to play anywhere else.

"We just feel our views haven't been heard and the alternatives we have been offered aren't suitable for us."

Ms Meredith said the team, which following a merger with Gwent Hockey Club has a total of 250 members, including men and children, understands the benefits of the Football Association of Wales development but found it sad that a team with such tradition and success and has contributed to the local community would be forced to move out of the area.

She added: "Hockey may not be a glamorous sport and may not generate the public interest that football does but it still has a very important role to play in the lives of people with Newport."

"I fear for the future of the club and its members."

Speaking at Wednesday's planning meeting where the FAW plans were unanimously passed, the council's head of sport and leisure services, Steve Ward, said alternatives venues had been offered to the club.

He said the pitch at Cwmbran Stadium should suit players as it was often used by Gwent Hockey Club, which the ladies team recently merged with.

Should the sport's governing body change its rules to allow matches to be played on 3G pitches or on smaller sized pitches, he said they could then play in the city.