Sir Trevor officially opens £1.1m football centre near Dudley
A new £1.1 million football centre in the West Midlands has been opened by Sir Trevor Brooking.
The England and West Ham legend opened the home to Kewford Eagles, one of the biggest grass roots clubs in the country.
The 11-pitch centre in Wall Heath has been 12 years in the making and has been a possibility thanks to a £800,000 grant from the Football Foundation.
The club has more than 550 young footballers on their books, in boys, girls and disabled teams.
Mr Brooking also blew the whistle for the kick off of the first match on the new pitches, between the boys under 17s and 18s teams.
He said: "I understand the importance of these facilities to a club like this. If they can continue on this path then they could perhaps get a club house and then it is a little venue for events as well.
"That will help them generate a little bit of revenue and also become more a part of the community.
"Then they could also get a 3G or 4G pitch here, because when it rains in the winter a lot of matches get called off."
He also said it was important that grass roots club around the country continue to flourish in the same way Kewford Eagles have.
They were formed in 1978 after two teams, from Kingswinford and Quarry Bank, joined forces. They have been planning a new home since 2002, and won the FA Charter standard community club last year.
They worked in partnership with the Birmingham FA to secure the £800,000 grant from the Premier League and The FA Facilities Fund towards the £1,076,560 project. Lynn Boleyn, Charity Trustee, said: "This new facility, 12 years in the planning, will provide a fantastic sporting facility for generations of children to come and we are extremely grateful to have received financial support from the Premier League & The FA Facilities Fund for making our dreams a reality.
"Kewford Eagles is a community club providing football for all – regardless of age or ability. Our volunteers give up many hours every week to help manage and coach the teams and provide good, healthy exercise for the children where they make friends to last a lifetime." Mr Brooking said it was a big couple of weeks for Midlands clubs, with West Bromwich Albion and Birmingham fighting relegation, and Wolves and Halesowen playing for titles.
He said: "Over the next couple of weekends there will be a lot of good times and bad times for clubs, right down to clubs of this size, and what it is about is how well you take the bad times." Eleven new football pitches have been landscaped on the site, neighbouring Dudley Kingswinford Rugby Club, over the past 12 months. A new sports pavilion has also been constructed as part of the works alongside a car park on the 30-acre land.
There are also four changing rooms, toilets and a kitchen created as part of the development.
The club, established in 1978, is run by volunteers and has received awards for strides made to support disability players and also holds the Queens Award for Voluntary Service.
Last year Kewford were presented with both The FA County and Regional Community Club of the Year Awards at the new FA Academy at Burton-on-Trent.
