Merthyr Town get Penydarren Park £500,000 revamp boost
- Published
Fans took over when the club was liquidated in 2009
A south Wales football club saved by fans three years ago has received a £500,000 grant for a revamp.
Merthyr Town Football Club hopes work to lay a synthetic pitch can be completed by early into the start of next season once they have signed a new lease at Penydarren Park.
The club says a 25-year deal is being negotiated with Merthyr Tydfil council.
Fans took over when the club, which plays in the English Southern League, went into liquidation three years ago.
Other developments include demolishing the derelict Strikers social club, providing more parking, and extending social and community facilities.
'Suffered'
The money comes from the Ffos y Fran Community Fund in an agreement between the borough council and a firm extracting coal from the nearby Ffos y Fran land reclamation scheme.
Merthyr Town chairman Meurig Price said: "We feel that the new 3G pitch is definitely the way forward to ensure stability of the club.
"We will be able to use it much more than a grass pitch.
"This season we had 62 games on the ground and the pitch suffered because we didn't have the money or the equipment to improve the pitch."
The ground is used by the teams for disabled footballers, a football academy, college and veterans' teams as well as women's football.