A FOOTBALL club based in Wall Heath is celebrating a whopping cash boost which will kick-off a massive upgrade.

Kewford Eagles, who play their home games at The Scout Ground, Swindon Road, have scored the biggest grant handed out by The Football Foundation this year - a game changing £800,000.

The cash from Britain's biggest sports charity will be used to develop 11 full-size football pitches, changing rooms, toilets and a car park on 30 acres next to Dudley Kingswinford Rugby Club.

Lynn Boleyn, Kewford Eagles charity trustee and club welfare officer, said: “We are delighted that the Football Foundation has awarded us this significant amount of money towards our grassroots project, which is great news for the club and the whole community.

"Without this funding our project would not be able to go ahead and we are therefore very grateful to the foundation for their very generous support.”

The money will be used to fund the £1million development at the club, which has around 500 young players of abilities as well as senior teams.

Work on the new development is expected to get under way within weeks and be completed by summer 2014.

The Football Foundation is funded by the Premier League, The Football Association and the Sport England and since its launch in 2000, has awarded around 8,000 grants worth more than £420m towards improving grassroots sport.

Paul Thorogood, Football Foundation chief executive, said: “I commend Kewford Eagles FC and the Birmingham County FA for working tirelessly to secure this funding and I look forward to seeing the end result in the near future.

“This year is an exciting time for sport in this country and a tremendous opportunity to create a grassroots legacy.

"The hosting of the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games will inspire generations of people up and down the country to reap the rewards that sport has to offer."