FOOTBALL facilities in Wrexham are going to be improved thanks to a £100,000 cash boost.

Wrexham Council has been awarded a grant of £100,000 to help support the improvement of football facilities at Ponciau Banks in Rhos and Solway Banks in Brynteg.

The money will support improvement to the sports pavilion at Solway Banks and match grant monies already obtained to help build a replacement community sports pavilion at Ponciau Banks.

These two areas are part of a pilot hub project to support grass roots football in Wrexham.

This follows a grant of £50,000 from the Welsh Government to fund the development work on the football hub pilot areas with the Football Association Wales (Trust) and North East Wales Football Association to help clubs develop their boys and girls teams, encourage stronger links between junior and senior teams and encourage a wider section of the community to keep fit through playing football.

One of the hubs covers football clubs from Brynteg, Brymbo to New Broughton and includes Ysgol Clywedog, as the feeder school. The other hub covers Johnstown, Rhos, Rhostyllen and Penycae and includes Ysgol Ruabon and Ysgol Grango, as the feeder schools.

Grant aid from the Welsh Government has enabled the Football Association Wales (Trust) to work with the clubs and schools on developing plans to improve football opportunities in these areas. This work is due to be completed in the next few weeks.

Cllr David A Bithell, lead member for environment and transport, said: “This is excellent news and we are grateful to the Sports Council for recognising the work we are doing here in Wrexham with football and the community.”

"We, along with key partners including Wrexham AFC, Glyndŵr University and the Football Association of Wales (FAW), have aspirational plans to significantly develop the profile of football in Wrexham and this funding is part of those plans as the plans move forward."

Deputy Minister for Culture Sport and Tourism Lord Elis-Thomas said: “Whether it’s the hall you do classes in or the pitch you play on, having the right facilities in place has a big impact on a person’s experience – and likelihood of them participating on a regular basis.

“There is a clear need to increase the spread of top-class facilities across the country and we are acting on that with investment, but we must also make sure these benefit local communities, as well as elite athletes.”