Burscough Dynamo FC (BDFC) officially opened their upgraded sports hub at the Thomas Galvin Sports Ground yesterday (Sunday 10 September), as Rosie Cooper, MP for West Lancashire, looked on. The project was made possible thanks to a grant from the Premier League & The FA Facilities Fund, which is delivered by the Football Foundation, as well as funding from the West Lancashire Borough Council and Sport England. The site was re-opened by Mrs Joan Galvin whose late husband, Thomas, was instrumental in starting junior football in the Burscough area.



Mrs Joan Galvin (centre) officially unveiled the improved sports hub, to the delight of Burscough Dynamo FC's youngsters, club Chairman Simon Kenyon (second from the left) and Deputy Mayor for the West Lancs. Borough Council, Cllr. Noel Delaney (centre left). The MP for West Lancashire, Rosie Cooper (centre right), was delighted to attend the event.

The club did not previously have a base for its teams, instead playing at a number of local venues. The grant has enabled them to carry out extensive pitch improvement works on the site of their new hub. The grass pitches were previously out of use for three years due to severe waterlogging. Now, the state-of-the-art surface will support BDFC and other users.

The facility comprises: six full-size pitches; one 9v9 pitch; four Mini-Soccer pitches and a changing pavilion with clubroom. Thanks to the upgrading of the site, Burscough now has a permanent home which will help them to retain and develop their players as well as attract new ones.

West Lancashire Borough Council has given a 25 year lease for the playing fields and pavilion to BDFC to enable the club to attract the funding required to improve the facilities.

The pitches will have a minimum of 26 teams using them. BDFC currently has 22 teams, ranging from Under-7 to adult level, which play in a number of leagues. These include: the Central Lancashire League; the Craven Minor League; the West Lancashire Girls League; the West Cheshire League and the North West Women’s Regional Football League.

The sports hub will have a number of users, in addition to BDFC, including: Digmoor FC; Sacre Coeur FP FC’s Veterans team and Burscough Priory High School. The site is also able to accommodate cricket sessions, and will be used by a number of local primary schools to hold PE lessons. Local community groups will also be able to hire the facilities from Burscough Dynamo FC, for sport and leisure activities.

Burscough Dynamo worked alongside the county FA and the Football Foundation to compile a five-year Football Development Plan, which is a vision of how sport will be played on site with an emphasis on increasing participation.

It is expected that the overall football participation will increase by 79% at the site. This is partly thanks to the club’s plans to establish 11 brand new teams. BDFC will introduce a girls’ Under-14 and Under-16 side within this, which will help to boost female football participation at the facility by 122% across all ages.

The club worked in partnership with the county FA to secure a £98,048 grant from the Premier League & The FA Facilities Fund. The club also received £100,000 from the West Lancashire Borough Council and £65,000 from the Sport England Protected Playing Fields scheme, towards the project.

Founded in 2000, the Football Foundation is the largest sports charity in the UK funded by the Premier League, The FA and Government, via Sport England. It develops new and refurbished grassroots sports facilities in order to improve the quality and experience of playing sport at the grassroots level. Since it was launched in 2000, the Foundation has awarded around 15,000 grants worth more than £580m towards improving grassroots sport, which it has used to attract additional partnership funding of over £800m – £1.4bn of investment into the grassroots game.

Since 2000 the Football Foundation Funding Partners’ investment has provided 448 grants worth £13.7m towards grassroots sports projects worth over £32m across the whole of Lancashire.

By providing more high-quality facilities, coupled with coaching at the appropriate age group, the Premier League & The FA Facilities Fund aims to improve the experience for regular players as well as attracting new players to the game. Many of the new state-of-the-art facilities will serve to strengthen the connection between professional football clubs and their local communities, particularly in the most deprived areas of the country, through the professional clubs’ community trusts’ outreach work.

Rosie Cooper, MP for West Lancashire, said: “I am delighted to see this investment into Burscough Dynamo, local young footballers now have good pitches and facilities to improve their skills and fitness. My thanks to the Chairman Simon Kenyon for his tireless work in the community in making all this possible, and I wish the club the very best of luck for this season and beyond as they continue to grow and expand their participation.”

Simon Kenyon, Chairman of Burscough Dynamo, said: “I would like to thank West Lancashire Borough Council for agreeing a long-term lease with us for the playing fields and changing pavilion, and the Premier League & The FA Facilities Fund, Sport England and the Council for their funding. All this has enabled the facility to be used once again mainly for grassroots football, but will allow us to offer cricket and other sports. It will also allow Burscough Dynamo FC to develop its Mini-Soccer, adult football and female football sections, as well as offering holiday activities and other sporting opportunities.”

Councillor Yvonne Gagen, West Lancashire Borough Council portfolio holder for Leisure, said: “I am really pleased that the Abbey Lane playing fields are thriving again and that Burscough Dynamo FC and other community clubs have a base they can call home that will be at the heart of the local community. The Council worked with the club to reach an agreement over the lease and we wish members every success in the future.”

Paul Thorogood, Chief Executive of the Football Foundation, said: “The Premier League & The FA Facilities Fund provides the investment necessary to improve grassroots football facilities. So, I am delighted to see Burscough Dynamo FC join thousands of local clubs who have reaped its benefit, in this case through the opening of a their upgraded sports hub.

“Having delivered over £1.4bn of grassroots sports infrastructure projects, the Football Foundation has developed a network of accessible, first-class facilities in areas they will have the greatest impact – thanks to money from the Premier League, The FA and the Government via Sport England.

“These facilities are more than places to play football at, these facilities are hubs of physical activity, the bedrock of local communities and ‘homes from home’ for so many who also use them as social outlets to learn new skills, gain work experience and other qualifications.”