THE 'beautiful game', football of course, is finally coming home to Ludlow's new purpose-built stadium at Burway.

The new £1 million complex is nearing completion and the first match under floodlights was played last month. The clubhouse is under construction and is expected to be ready before Easter, writes Jean Kingdon.

Ludlow Town is going to be much more than an ordinary football club. It has been designated a "Community Club" in a new national project which means everyone in south Shropshire can benefit from the new development if they wish.

The Football Association, the government, Sport England and the Premier League fund the Football Foundation, the nation's largest sports charity with a budget of £53 million. It was the Foundation that put up £784,228 to develop the Burway site into a community sports complex.

Foundation chairman, Lord Pendry, sees community clubs as holding the key to the long-term future of football. Ludlow is one of 86 awarded the status.

"By creating these new facilities Ludlow is paving the way for other clubs to follow. The new sports complex will greatly benefit both the club, and more importantly the community. Ludlow will soon have facilities to rival any in the country," he said.

These facilities, explains club chairman Peter Gwilliam, will be used by junior and senior schools and colleges in the area.

"We will run club teams at every level for boys and girls, men and women. Courses run by qualified coaches will be available for other clubs and we will strengthen links to Shrewsbury Town."

Ludlow Town has been a part of the immediate community however for 115 years. Although 1890 is given as its foundation date according to the records of the Birmingham FA, a Ludlow side is recorded in the Birmingham Senior Cup in 1888. That game, coincidentally, was played at Burway Lane, only a few hundred yards from the new multi-pitch Corrs Stadium.

After taking part in the fledgling Shropshire and District League, Ludlow then played at South Shropshire and North Hereford level until the 1920s when it moved back to the Shropshire league once more.

After the Second World War the Club joined the Kidderminster League, winning the title in 1962. In 1978 players won the second division championship in the West Midlands League.

Three years later came the move to Riddings Park, the first home the club had actually owned. In 2001 Ludlow took the West Midlands League Premier Division shield for the first time in its history.

Now in the Midland Alliance, Ludlow Town can now field eight teams and has World Cup hero Sir Geoff Hurst as its patron. The future is looking bright for Ludlow Town and all who enjoy "the beautiful game."