Scarborough Athletic have until the end of July to get Bridlington Town's Queensgate ground up to Conference North standard to retain their place in the National League.

The Seadogs will return to the ground where they spent the first 10 years of existence next season, after being rocked by the scale of problems at the council-owned home they moved to in 2017, at Scarborough's Sports Village.

Shortly before the end of last season the fan-owned phoenix club discovered that the relatively routine work required to install a new artificial playing surface for 2025-26 would be far more costly than expected. Not only would it take a lot more time to complete – 44 weeks has been mentioned – but the council were unable to tell them when it would start.

With York City's heavily-used Community Stadium the only their National League-standard ground in North Yorkshire, the news was a threat to their very existence.

But Northern Premier League Bridlington have come to the rescue, and agreed to host them, as they did when Scarborough played at that level, and in the North Counties East League below.

Scarborough's volunteer board have come up with a plan that should see the upgrades completed in time to meet league standards by their deadline at the end of next month.

The move has been approved both by the National League – which administers the Conference Premier, North and South – and the Northern Premier League. Bridlington play in the Northern Premier League’s East division, finishing 18th last season.

Under the management of former Middlesbrough and Manchester United player Jonathan Greening, the Seadogs were 13th in Conference North.

PITCH PROBLEMS: Work on a new playing surface at Scarborough Athletic's Scarborough Sports Village home will be more complicated and expensive than expected (Photo by George Wood/Getty Images)

placeholder image — PITCH PROBLEMS: Work on a new playing surface at Scarborough Athletic's Scarborough Sports Village home will be more complicated and expensive than expected (Photo by George Wood/Getty Images)

An open meeting is planned at Scarborough Cricket Club from 7pm on June 4 for "anyone with interest in our football club".

Now there is clarity on where they will be playing, Scarborough are encouraging supporters to buy season tickets as soon as possible to help make up the financial shortfall the move will bring. They have also set up a "No Battle, No Victory" fund, asking fans to set up monthly £20 direct debits.