Major expansion planned for TNS ground

Major expansion plans have been unveiled for the home ground of Welsh Premier League champions TNS.

The club has revived a previously approved scheme to enhance the facilities at Park Hall Stadium, which bosses say will pave the way for more community involvement and the development of more girls’ teams.

If approved by Shropshire Council, the £1 million project would see a new full-sized 3G pitch, a full-sized grass pitch and six smaller 3G training pitches created, complete with flood lighting and 100 extra parking spaces.

Pedestrian access will also be improved by extending the footpath along Burma Road, from where it currently finishes near the rugby club.

The previous application, approved in 2014, was for one full-sized pitch and six smaller pitches, but the work was never carried out.

Chief operating officer Ian Williams said it was now critical to increase the capacity for the men’s, women’s, academy and youth teams, which all currently share one pitch, and allow more girls’ teams to be formed – building on the momentum of the Lionesses’ historic Euros win last year.

It will also help the club meet new UEFA regulations limiting usage of the existing pitch, and create additional coaching jobs.

Mr Williams said the club hopes to have the work completed by the autumn in time for the start of the new football season, following a separate construction project to increase the seating capacity at the stadium from 1,000 to 3,000, which is due to get underway in the coming weeks.

The new pitches will be created on a 10-acre piece of land the other side of the car park, which club chairman Mike Harris purchased from Shropshire Council last year.

Mr Williams said: “At the moment we have only got the one pitch and 17 or 18 teams within the club.

“We have had to forego a lot of community use on there which we want to bring back, and give local clubs the opportunity to train from here and possibly play from here.

“The other main aim is to grow the women’s and girls’ game. We have currently got our senior women’s team playing in the women’s premier league and we have our under-19s which supplements the senior team, and a couple of girls’ teams which play in the local Shropshire leagues.

“We want to try and mirror what we have got in place for the boys.”

A key element of this will see the creation of a girls’ football scholarship programme in partnership with Walford and North Shropshire College, building on the success of the boys’ scholarship which has been running for 20 years. There are currently around 32 boys aged 16-19 on the programme, which sees them complete sports qualifications alongside receiving professional coaching from the club.

Mr Williams said discussions have already taken place with the college, and the club hopes to launch the girls’ scholarship either this year or next.

He said: “The idea is to establish the girls’ scholarship with the college the same as the boys’, and create a girls’ academy at various age groups.

“That will then mean they have got the pathway, the same as the boys, to go through to the senior teams – and have the opportunity to qualify for the Champions League.

“The men’s team have been successful in qualifying for Europe for 20 years. We re-established the women’s team two years ago and moved over to the Welsh league with the aim to try to get into UEFA competitions within five years.”

The scheme will be the biggest development project undertaken at Park Hall since the club moved there in 2007.

Mr Williams said: “This new development is part of our continued growth of providing football for the various teams within the club but also the wider community as well.”

Taking charge of the expanded provision will be newly appointed facility and commercial manager Simon O’Reilly. He said: “My job will double in size, but it can’t come soon enough.

“I am dying to sell the pitch but aside from May and June there is no availability.

“This project opens up more opportunities to host charity events, corporate tournaments, community leagues and five-a-side leagues.”

There will also be scope for the TNS Foundation – the club’s charitable arm – to make use of the pitches, as well as more opportunities for children accessing the club’s youth and holiday provision.

Mr Williams also revealed the club had further plans to add more pitches in the future.

He said: “What this creates for this part of town is a real sports hub, obviously with the rugby club on the other side of the road.

“Ideally what we would like to try and do is develop further, if we can access more land, and put more pitches in.”

Mr Williams said the club hopes to access grant funding towards the development, but added: “If that’s not possible we will look to support the cost of the project ourselves. The chairman is very keen to make it happen.”

The planning application will be decided by Shropshire Council in the coming months.