TRANMERE Rovers' plan to sell its former training ground as part of a major redevelopment scheme can now go ahead after documents completing the sale were signed this week.

Councillors voted by eight to five in favour of the club's bid to sell Ingleborough Road playing fields during a planning committee meeting in August.

The scheme goes hand-in-hand with a parallel plan to create four full-sized football pitches plus one junior academy pitch and one training area on land near the Solar Campus in Leasowe.

The development has been described by Rovers' chairman Mark Palios as "key to the club's sustainability".

All money raised from Ingleborough Road's sale will be used to pay for the development in Leasowe.

Mr Palios, who took over the club with wife Nicola last August after reaching an agreement with then owner Peter Johnson, said today: "I am delighted to say that we have signed the final documents which needed to be concluded to allow the sale of Ingleborough and the development of our new training facilities at Solar Campus to go ahead.

"The new facilities at Solar Campus are a key part of our vision for the future of the club.

"They will allow our first team and Academy to train at the same location for the first time, providing five professional standard pitches, multiple changing rooms, gym, physiotherapy and rehabilitation areas as well as a comfortable indoor viewing and refreshments area for Academy parents.

“In addition to the facilities for the use of the Club, we will be laying three community pitches and providing changing rooms to support grass roots football in the area.

“When Nicola and I came to the Club we said that our vision was that Tranmere should become a club which gained a reputation for developing young footballing talent, and whilst bricks and mortar will never make a player, the professional facilities we are going to provide at Solar Campus will be an important part of bringing that vision to reality, and will help with attracting talented youngsters to the Academy.

"But at the same time we said that we wanted Tranmere to be a Club rooted at the very heart of its community, and for that reason we are keen to engage over the coming months with the local Leasowe residents to see whether it might be feasible to allow a degree of public access to the club's professional facilities at Solar Campus when they are not in use by the club, in addition to providing the community pitches.

"There are hurdles which will need to be overcome if this is to be achieved, but we are both passionate believers in the power of sport to be a force for good, and if we can help the local community at the same time as providing the club with what it needs for its own development, then that would be a win-win for all concerned."

The plan to sell Ingleborough field had sparked controversy, with campaigners calling it “disrespectful” to the memories of Wirral soldiers killed in the First World War.

Ingleborough is a memorial to 88 former students of Birkenhead Institute, who lost their lives in the First World War.

As part of the recommendations aprpoved in August, a plaque currently housed in Ingleborough's pavilion will be moved to Hamilton Square and a plaque honouring the soldiers' sacrifice will be sited across the road from the playing fields.

Opponents were also concerned that the move to Solar Campus would lead to an increase in noise and traffic.

The schemes had the support of the club's supporters' trust, who recently said development would be in the interests of the wider community and the club.

Speaking after the plans were approved, trust chairman Ben Harrison told the Globe: "It's good news for the future of the club. It needs to stand on its own two feet.

"The club's been around for 130 years, we want it to be around for another 130 years."