WORCESTER City will apply for £300,000 or more of grant funding in order to get its Parsonage Way stadium project off the ground.

Director Mark Wilcox confirmed he had represented the club at meetings last week to explore the possibility of accessing cash to help City to return home.

The club is in its fifth season in exile and took voluntary relegation to the Midland Football League in a bid to cut costs in the summer.

The Football Foundation and Football Stadia Improvement Fund are the two main funding streams City will try to tap into to the tune of up to £300,000 with smaller sums potentially available from other sources.

“I have had meetings with the Worcestershire FA and Football Foundation to look at all of the opportunities available to us," said Wilcox.

“It is all looking very positive with regard to accessing the maximum available to support the new build.

“There are a number of grants we are looking at. The key is the one with the Football Foundation and potentially we could get £250,000 up to £300,000. We had a meeting last Tuesday and expect to get something back this week.

“Nothing is guaranteed until we put in the application and that cannot happen until we have planning permission so there is a process to go through.

“The planning application will go in at the end of May or beginning of June and we hope it will be concluded by the end of September.

“Then there is a window to submit the grant application in October which should lead to a decision at the end of December or middle of January.

“There are a number of conditions we need to look at but we have discussed it in full with the Football Foundation.

“The level we are at caps what we can get and there would be potential for another £50,000 if we get promoted this season. There could be other funding streams too but they would be in the tens of thousands of pounds.

“From the meetings we have had, we foresee no obstacles in the way.”

The Worcester City Supporters’ Trust, which is pursuing an appeal over the rejected planning application for a proposed stadium at Perdiswell, has questioned how Parsonage Way will be financed.

In November, City chairman Anthony Hampson said the club could “afford the first phase of development, sufficient for the level of football we operate at now and the level above, from its existing situation.

He added: “Should grants come through our partnership with the Worcestershire FA then further scope would be considered.”

Asked what would happen if City’s bid for grants failed, Wilcox said: “We would just have to look at other funding streams but I don’t see any issues. Provided we hit each of the community aspects I don’t have any concerns.”

When asked about Hampson’s past comments, Wilcox said: “It will need that grant funding to get things going. We haven’t got all of the final costings in place and there will be some investment needed.

“We are trying to work with the Worcestershire FA and council to look at all of the grants to get that initial phase built, which will be the minimum we need to get the club back operating in Worcester.

“When Anthony made those comments we hadn’t got back the topographic report. We still have to get the final costings.

“We have some initial reports back and are working with Zebra Architects but until we have the final layout we don’t know the full extent of what additional funds are required.”

Hampson was unavailable for comment.