IT comes as no surprise that Worcester City soccer officials have been told to go back to the drawing board and reconsider their hopes, dreams and plans for their new stadium.

The club and the city were on a collision course from the moment a council report picking the proposals apart was published last week.

It leaves all concerned with the tastes of bitterness or frustration to add to the disappointment that - three years after the ambitious plans for Nunnery Way were first mooted - the club appears no closer to a move.

It's easy to summarise where we stand this morning.

The club wants to move to a 6,000-seater stadium at the M5-side site, with a massive 'enabling' retail development to help pay for it.

City councillors want the the club to move there too, but with car parks to service 6,000 supporters and development which meets local, regional and national guidelines.

They both know the suggestion of a move to Tolladine Goods Yard is a non-starter, just five days after being touted by city council officers.

Our backing of that alternative wasn't music to football club ears last week, though our view that the writing was on the wall for its own proposals was sound.

So, where does everyone go now?

To begin with, it's vital that the club doesn't give up. A city like Worcester needs a landmark stadium and a football club whose stature befits it.

At the same time, a club like City needs to move forward knowing that, while the principle and detail of ideas may cause concern, support in the vision it has for its future remains resolute at the Guildhall.

What the community needs is a partnership between club and council discussing ideas around the drawing board, rather than in the council chamber.

Somehow, sometime, the stadium must be built. We won't be happy until it is. No one should be.