THE changing face of Wall Heath continues to gather pace with the construction of Kewford Eagles new premises in Swindon Road now reaching an advanced stage.

Construction of the clubhouse, next door to Dudley Kingswinford Rugby Club, is well underway while seeding is about to start on the 11 proposed full-size football pitches.

Trustee Lynn Boleyn confirmed: “Work has progressed quicker than we expected. We’re not expecting to start playing football on the site until September 2014, depending on how well the land settles and I’m sure they’ll be an offical opening prior to that.

“Yet despite all the bad weather, the building is already taking shape even though we’re not expecting everything to be completed until next spring.

“We want to leave a legacy for future generations of children to come.”

The building complex will comprise of changing rooms, toilets and showers, a referee’s changing room and a small club house kitchen, although there would be scope to expand the club house at a later date.

The club is currently based further down Swindon Road, its home for the past 35 years - but with more than 550 children on the books, Lynn Boleyn said: “We’ve outgrown our existing premises many times overs.

“We have children coming to us from all over Dudley borough, some from even further afield, so as a result we have to try and obtain pitches wherever we can throughout the area.

“At present we have to pay in the region of £50,000 a year just to rent pitches, which is money we will soon be able to plough back into the club once the new site is up and running.”

Kewford’s new facilities have been in the planning stage for many years and the club has held a host of fundraising events ranging from quiz nights to summer balls to five-a-side tournaments to help raise cash for the development.

In addition, Kewford have also received many donations from members of the public and major grants from Sport England, The Football Foundation, Cory Environmental Trust in Britain, Staffordshire Environmental Fund and Ibstock Cory Environment Trust.

This year’s summer ball takes place at Dudley Kingswinford Rugby Club on June 14 and tickets are available from Lynn Boleyn on 01384 830862 or Liz Woodall on 07968 928818.