THE Football Conference this week handed Hayes & Yeading a lifeline in their quest to play football at the Sharda Glass Community Stadium next season.

United are hoping to move into their new home in Beaconsfield Road for the start of the 2013-14 campaign.

In order to start playing football at the new venue, the ground must first meet the National Ground Grading Category B standard.

Rules set out by the Conference and the Football Association state that this standard must be met by March 31, although a statement issued by Hayes & Yeading on Saturday conceded the new ground would not be ready in time to be assessed by that date.

United are now in the process of finalising an extension to their current groundsharing agreement with Woking at Kingfield to secure their league status.

Both clubs have made contact with the organisation in the past few days with a view to getting arrangements in place.

A formal agreement has now been reached and a copy of the documents was being sent to the Conference as the Gazette went to press in order to meet Sunday’s deadline.

However, the Conference are also keen to see Hayes & Yeading return home and this week revealed they would be prepared to give the club an extension past the traditional March 31 deadline.

“If they can get the groundshare agreement in place with Woking, which I’m still waiting for, then we know that they’re going to play at Woking next season,” Dennis Strudwick, general manager at the Football Conference, told the Gazette.

“In the interim, if the ground becomes available then we’ll have a look at that. I need a copy of the [groundshare] agreement.

“I wouldn’t remember [if such a scenario has occurred before]. It’s quite unique.”

Conference officials refused to put a timescale on when the work must now be completed, although the statement released by Hayes & Yeading at the weekend expressed a belief that pre-season games could be fulfilled at the new ground.

Based on United’s most recent pre-season schedule, the first fixtures at the Sharda Glass Community Stadium could be pencilled in for the middle of July.