Plans to help North Cardiff soccer club improve facilities

Plans to help a high-flying North Cardiff soccer club get extra funding to improve facilities at their home ground are set to be agreed with Cardiff Council.

Cardiff Draconians, who play at Lydstep Park, are due to take on responsibility for managing and maintaining facilities and green space in the park in Gabalfa.

The club featured in a two-page spread in Rhiwbina-based Welsh Football Magazine last year, covering their rise through the leagues in the past decade, and their hugely successful 2024-25 campaign that saw them promoted to the second tier of soccer in Wales, as champions of the third-tier Ardal South West division. 

The new lease arrangements are proposed for a 30-year term and would maintain public access while also enabling the club to deliver their long-term At the Heart of the Community strategic plan.

We reported on similar arrangements for Rhiwbina RFC in 2024.

The council's cabinet member for culture, parks and events, Jennifer Burke, said: “This is good news for Cardiff Draconians, and the future of football in Lydstep Park.

"Community sports clubs across Cardiff are already benefitting from these arrangements which enable them to access new funding streams that are unavailable to local authorities, develop their facilities and continue to grow and thrive.”

As a result of the plans, legal notices have been published advertising the ‘disposal’ of 32,960 square metres of park land.

‘Disposal’ is a legal term which, in this case, refers to the granting of a lease. All land will still be owned by Cardiff Council.