St Johnstone manager Tommy Wright fears that the club’s youth development programme is in jeopardy.
Local councillors will today deliberate plans for a controversial relief road which would wipe-out the grass training pitch beside McDiarmid Park.
Perth chairman Steve Brown has already hit out at council planners, objecting to the authority’s move to slap a compulsory purchase order on land next to the stadium.
Now Wright, whose predecessors had to rely on public parks and private schools for training facilities, has had his say.
He issued a short and long-term warning about the consequences if the vote goes against them.
The Northern Irishman said: “Losing our training pitch would harm the club and the players in the short-term because we’d have to find other training facilities.
“And in the long-term it would affect the club’s youth set-up.
“We have to play these games side-by-side, but that wouldn’t be possible any longer. When one of our under-age teams is on the astroturf, another one will be playing on the grass pitch.
“If we lose that facility then it will certainly harm those under-age teams.
“As a club, St Johnstone has tried to foster a good relationship with the local council.
“Hopefully they’ll see sense and go ahead with one of the other options.”
He added: “This meeting is a hugely significant one for the club and we’re hoping for the right outcome.
“A lot of money, time and effort has gone into getting the training facilities up and running in Perth so it would be a huge blow to the club to lose them.
“We have got the first team back training in the city and I believe that’s important for the club’s identity.
“The council saw last year when we won the Scottish Cup how much St Johnstone means to the people of Perth. That day proved to me that the club is one of the main institutions in the city.
“So it’s incredible to think they could go through with this when they have other options available to them.
“As the manager, I believe we should be training in Perth so the players have a link to the city every day. In my book, that is very important.
“At every other club I have been at in my career, councils have bent over backwards to support their local football club because they recognise they are the bedrock of the community.”