There is a strong argument that Wrexham is the spiritual home of football in Wales.
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.
Those plans include
- The improvement of the Mold Road gateway leading into town, including the train station and the Racecourse;
- A new football development centre at Colliers Park;
- Plans – recently discussed by Welsh Assembly – to develop a National Football Museum in Wrexham;
- Work by the Council and Wrexham AFC to secure a permanent location for a training ground
As well as the plans above, we’ll also be looking at a strategy which will see us team up with FAW to look at plans for new community footballing hubs throughout the county borough.
In January, our Executive Board will look at proposals to set up a pilot project for two new community footballing hubs – one in the south of the county borough and one in the west – which will see us and the FAW working closely with local clubs, schools and their governing bodies to improve pitches and facilities.
We’re especially keen to build links between school pupils and the development of youth footballing teams outside of school hours, using school facilities and working alongside “clusters” of clubs and providers.
These plans follow our review of how we manage football pitches and changing room facilities back in the spring of 2017, after which we decided to look at new, better ways of managing and developing grassroots football in the county borough.
The proposals will be discussed by the Executive Board on Tuesday, January 8.
If approved by the Board, the pilot project – backed by £50,000 from the Welsh Government – the pilot project would run for a year, and then be assessed to see how successful the hub model was.
The main aim of the partnership would be to help clubs become more self-sufficient, improve community facilities and give young people and adults the opportunity and facilities they need to improve their health.
But some of the particular elements we’ll be looking at in detail are:
- New club pitch and pavilion management models
- Maximising school site models – securing better quality pitches for sports development, particularly for young people and women/girls
- More fit-for-purpose 3G pitches
- Application of asset management approach to outdoor spaces
But we’ll still be maintaining and booking pitches as normal, and we will continue to liaise with all football clubs to see how we can help them to develop.
The closing date for 2019 nursery school applications is February 22
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