JOINT manager Carl Heeley says he and the rest of Worcester City’s new directors will do ‘everything within their powers’ to lead the club back home.

Heeley was among five people to join the Blue and Whites’ board in a bid to “speed up the process” of securing a permanent base in Worcester.

The National League North outfit have been playing at Aggborough, Kidderminster, since 2013 after the curtain went down on 108 years of football at St George’s Lane.

Heeley, who has managed City since 2010 and played more than 500 games for them, said the ground-share agreement with Kidderminster Harris had been “vital” to keeping the club afloat.

However, the 47-year-old insists if they are to become an income-generating club, they need to run their own site in the heart of the city.

“The ultimate aim is getting back to the city and we have to got to do that as quickly as we can because, with every year that goes by, it becomes more difficult for the club to survive,” he said.

“So hopefully, along with the other directors, I can play a part in speeding the process up and making it happen as soon as physically possible.

“We have to look at the areas where we can improve our income generation other than what we have done in the last couple of years with cup runs and player sales.

“Although that is an important part of any football club, it can’t be our get out of jail card. To be a sustainable business and a force to be reckoned with at the standard of football we are at, we need our own facilities.

“There is an appetite for the football club in the city, so I am confident we will get back home. When? I don’t know, but the sooner the better.”

Despite his long-standing relationship with the club, Heeley said it ‘was not an easy decision’ to join the board as he juggles family life, his managerial duties with Matt Gardiner and a ‘high-pressured’ job.

However, he said he was now determined to help the other new directors — Rob Crean, Jeremy Pitt, Julian Pugh and Martin Pinches — put the club on a ‘stronger footing’ and push ahead with Worcester City Supporters’ Trust plans to create a football stadium in Perdiswell.

“We have a good number of people who all have good qualities and if we share out the workload, I think it is a manageable addition to my standcommitments,” he said.

“But I have not joined to waste my time because I want to see some results and I will push hard for them.

“When the club left St George’s Lane it was a sad day for me and it was difficult to take. Although I knew it was coming, it was still very difficult and it would have been a lot easier to walk away.

“But I could not do that as I felt I could play my part in helping the club to survive and, as it has developed, the aim for me now is to lead the club home.

“It is going to be a part of my life and it will continue to be as long as I am wanted there. We have got to get back home and we are going to do everything within our powers to make that happen.”

City’s home league game with Bradford Park Avenue next Tuesday has been postponed as their visitors will be in FA Trophy action.