Harborough sports club gets £270,000 grant

The money has come from so-called Section 106 money, contributed by local housing developers towards the cost of providing new community and social facilities.

Harborough Town chairman Laurence Jones said: “The council has been really visionary in their support.

“It’s a fantastic award that w ill benefit local sport and the community.”

The grant for Harborough Town Community Trust will kick-start a half million pound bid for the new artificial pitch.

The pitch is part of a redesign at the Northampton Road site which will give Harborough Town’s first team a four-sided pitch, and create more room for neighbours Market Harborough Rugby Club.

Mr Jones said the ambitious plan was right for the 47-team football club, which hoped to expand to 70 teams by 2020.

He said he believed Harborough would be one of the first clubs in the country to have two artificial pitches.

And if the rest of the funding could be won, the club also hoped to create a Football Academy and work with local education authorities.

The money includes a £40,000 grant for a car park extension.

The latest batch of Section 106 grants also included £177,000 towards a new community building in Scraptoft, in the north of the Harborough district.

There was also a £10,273 grant for outdoor fitness equipment for Gilmorton.