A NEW £600,000 football pavilion and community room could be built in Wigginton.

Wigginton Grasshoppers FC have submitted a planning application for the scheme on their site off Mill Lane.

Proposals include accessible changing rooms, a kitchen area and a community space which could host fitness classes, cake decorating workshops and bingo sessions.

Manager and senior secretary Graham Ireton said: “We want to make it an accessible club for all. We have had the cabins for about 25 years and they are getting to a state of disrepair. They have done a very good job but they are tired.”

There are also plans to ease the parking situation by more than doubling the number of spaces available - from 102 to 216. Application documents say visitors sometimes park on Mill Lane when the existing car park is full and the club aims to improve the situation with the extra spaces.

The club is home to more than 300 players of all ages and also has thriving girls’ teams and a walking football team. Graham said the organisation is also hoping to launch a team for disabled players.

He added that the project is set to cost about £600,000 and members of the club have thrown themselves into fundraising, with each player tasked with raising £30.

Planning documents say: “The club is run entirely by club committees formed of coaches, managers and officials (all of whom are unpaid volunteers).  “With many rival clubs having modern changing facilities the club has concerns that it will fall behind in their ability to continue to host such events.

“The club has received very favourable support for the proposals from numerous local organisations, including the North Riding County Football Association, The Wigginton Sports and Playing Field Association, The Wigginton Bowls Club and the Wigginton Parish Council.”

A spokesman for Wigginton Sports and Playing Field Association said they “enthusiastically” support the plans, adding the scheme is long overdue.

The club was created in 1982 by founder John Jeffery, who still has an active role in the organisation.  It relocated to the current Mill Lane site from Wigginton School in 1984.

The application says the new pavilion will “serve the current, and future generations of, community footballers at Wigginton Grasshoppers, in addition to providing a first-class facility for wider community based activities”.

Anyone who can help with fundraising should email chair.wiggintongrasshoppers82@gmail.com.