Wyrley Juniors FC in funding move to complete pitches

Wyrley Juniors FC, which has 700 footballers on its books, hopes to be able to play football at Long Lane for the first time in August. The clubhouse was officially opened by Sir Trevor Brooking for social events last September.

The club needs to raise £165,000 to fund four new pitches – two full-size and two junior – before games can be held there.

The job mainly involves drainage work since the pitches have been seeded. Pipes have been installed but these need to be backfilled with sand and other preparation work also needs to be carried out. It is hoped to restart work in March when the weather improves.

Some £115,000 has already been raised and the FA's Football Foundation is contributing 80 per cent of the remainder which leaves the committee £11,000 to find over the next eight months.

A beer festival at the clubhouse in Long Lane, Essington is being held on the weekend of January 11-13 to help towards the costs. There will also be live music on the Saturday, from midday onwards.

Club chairman Keith Hardy said: "It's a lot of money but I'm confident we will do it, even if we have to beg or borrow the cash.

"While games cannot be played here we are missing out on valuable income."

The club, which runs 40 teams from across the West Midlands and Staffordshire, also plans to revamp its old ground in Hazel Lane, Great

Wyrley, which still has 17 years left on the lease. Wyrley Juniors was named the FA's community club of the year in 2011.