Work under way on ambitious sports facility near Telford

Allscott Sports Club has confirmed work on plans to build a new two-storey club house has started.

A £475,000 grant from the Premier League, The FA and Government’s Football Foundation as well as additional contributions from Sport England, British Sugar and SJ Roberts Homes, have helped set the ball rolling on the new development, which will be located on the opposite side of the road to the existing clubhouse and bowling green.

Facilities will include five additional football pitches and four new state-of-the-art changing rooms plus, separate official rooms, a kitchen, an office and full disabled access.

The upstairs will consist of a kitchen, a bar area, a function room, a snooker table and a viewing balcony to watch the cricket and bowls matches.

Two new bowling greens will be laid, one the traditional grass green and one artificial 3G green.

Club Chairman, Pete Starling, said: "My vision will soon be complete and, even though it has been a long and sometimes appeared a never-ending mission, it will be worth all the effort put in by various committee members and outside organisations.

"There are plans to increase participation for everybody – men and women, boys and girls across all sports at Allscott Sports Club including football, cricket and crown green bowls.

"We'll have a brand-new facility that locals can access including more recreational activities such as snooker, darts and dominoes. We’ve had teams playing at high levels over the past few years and we hope that this development will only enhance this further and push us on to more success.

"Once fully established, this will result in the facility being one of the best independent sporting and social facilities in the county and continue the growth of the local area.”

Robert Sullivan, Chief Executive of the Football Foundation, said: “This project at Allscott Sports Club for a new clubhouse is great news for the local community.

“It will support people’s ability to play our national game locally and therefore help unlock football’s many benefits to physical and mental wellbeing.

"The Football Foundation is working closely with our partners – the Premier League, The FA and Government – to support facility development projects like this across the country over the next decade to transform our grassroots game and unlock the power of pitches.”