Football club and council team up for pitch revamp

Crewe MP Dr Kieran Mullan has praised the work of Crewe FC

A grassroots football club and a council have partnered up to improve playing facilities in Crewe.

Cheshire East Council is working with Crewe FC on a £1.4m project to create a 3G artificial grass pitch and improved changing facilities at King George V Playing Fields.

The scheme will need planning permission and grant funding from the Football Foundation.

The aim is to encourage more people to get involved in the sport, and future-proof the club, the council said.

The partnership marks a "significant milestone" in Crewe FC's commitment to the continual development of grassroots football, said the club's chairman Steve Parker.

"This is fantastic news, not only for the club but for the wider football community in Crewe," he added.

Community club Crewe FC was founded in 1998, and has a large number of male, female and children's teams.

It will run King George V Playing Fields via a 21-year lease agreement with the council.

There are currently three adult pitches and three youth pitches.

Alongside plans for an all-weather pitch, work on the pavilion is set to include full wheelchair access, disabled changing and gender-neutral changing areas.

The planning application will be submitted "soon," said Cheshire East Council, with the application for grant funding expected to be made in the autumn.

Conservative MP for Crewe Dr Kieran Mullan has praised Crewe FC's chairman and team of volunteers for making the partnership successful, saying they have done an "amazing job".

"They are passionate about the power of sport to benefit young people in all sorts of ways," he added.