The club's First XI hope to move up the non-league football pyramid

Bisley FC's Lion Park home, in the village of Bisley, near Woking, Surrey, needs a new perimeter path, floodlights and a covered stand for 200 people.

But a High Court dispute with Surrey Heath council in March held up attempts to meet a deadline for the works.

Now the club is banking on a planning application being approved this summer.

Bisley FC's First XI side were promoted on Monday from the Hellenic League Division One East.

It means the FA ground requirements must be in place for the 2007/08 football season, otherwise the team will not be able to take their place in the Hellenic Premier Division.

The club said the improvements were "obviously a huge investment to make, and it was not something we were going to do immediately until we fortunately managed to find ourselves in a promotion position [earlier this season]".

Bisley FC runs teams from Under 9s to Senior level

It said it asked the borough council for prior permission to carry out the works, so that it could meet the ground requirements in time, but was met with a "wholly negative attitude".

But the council has argued that "no attempt was made by the club to seek advice from... the planning authority".

In January, the club began work on a perimeter path "as a permitted development right", but it was taken to the High Court in March as the council sought an injunction against any development.

Bisley FC was told by a judge that it could continue with the concrete path, but no other works were permitted until the planning process had been observed.

The council said: "A planning application has now been submitted by the club and we are in the process of assessing it."