AN announcement about who is bidding to buy Fylde Rugby Club land has been postponed until next month.

Members will have to wait until the annual meeting on August 23 for official confirmation of the best bidder for one of the debt-ridden club's four pitches.

The committee had hoped to make the announcement at a meeting last week, but decided not to do so until all the members could vote on it at the annual meeting.

Rumours are rife throughout the town that Booths, the supermarket-chain which already has an older, cramped store in nearby Ansdell, is a front-runner but they faced competition from housing developers and other foodstores.

The club invited bids for the three-acre site after running up debts believed to be above £350,000 since turning professional two seasons ago. This year they were relegated from the fully-professional Allied Dunbar league division two.

The sale of the land is expected to put the club healthily back in credit as the Woodlands ground is in a desirable location, surrounded by upmarket homes in the Hall Park and Blackpool Road area of Ansdell.

Chairman Arnie Halford would only say: "It was agreed at the meeting not to make any comment until all the members can hear about it on August 23. We all signed a form of confidentiality to keep everything under wraps until then."

A Booths spokesman said they had no comment to make at this stage.

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