Penn club together for a bright future

Off it, however, they are decidedly looking up.

Last weekend saw the club celebrate the official opening of its new £70,000 clubhouse which, together with new £25,000 state-of-the-art net facility, officials hope will help restore its place as a focal point of the community.

The clubhouse project involved the renovation of an old scout building which for years had remained out of use and was funded in large part by the Olympic legacy fund.

"It was something we were planning for about eight years," explained club chairman John Marshall. "We took on the scout hut the last time we re-negotiated the lease for the ground with the council and there was always the intention to turn it into a lounge at some point.

"With help from Staffordshire cricket we were able to put together a detailed proposal with how we wanted it to be."

The result is a completely refurbished building complete with bar, seating and toilets, which has already proved a popular venue for christenings and even weddings.

There are also plans to hold regular coffee mornings, with Marshall determined it is used as much as possible.

"What we don't want is a building only used once or twice a week and closed the rest of the time," he said. "We want the community involved as much as possible.

"Back when I first got involved in the club, around 28 years or so ago, Penn was probably one of the premier community clubs in the area.

"Over the past few years we have maybe lost a little of that feel but there is now a sense we are getting it back.

"Quite a few people who have booked the clubhouse for functions have remarked how they didn't know the club was here. The hope must be they will come back." The clubhouse was officially opened on Sunday by Mayor of Wolverhampton, councillor Barry Findlay, prior to Penn's 55-run win over Stourbridge.

While the clubhouse will improve the club's standing off the field, Marshall hopes the new nets will improve their fortunes on it following a tough few years which included relegation from the Birmingham League in 2014.

"The old nets had been there for 30 or 40 years and had become unsafe," he said. "With the facilities in that state it sometimes made it difficult to attract new players to the club.

"These new ones are up to ECB standard. Everyone can use them."

Penn field four teams in the Staffordshire Clubs Championship on a Saturday and two in the Worcestershire Sunday League and there are currently plans to bolster a youth section which currently fields only one side, at under-12 level.

Marshall has been encouraged by the spirit seen in the first XI during the opening weeks of the new season and believes the club are on the right track.

"Things are going very well," he said. "We have a very good team of young players. We want to bring more in and build the youth section, we have already explored the idea of linking up with schools in order to do that.

"Of course we want to play at the highest level possible and that means getting back into the Birmingham League.

"But we are not a rich club and at the moment it is not the be-all and end-all."