Pompey In The Community have this month been handed a boost in the form of a £10,000 grant from the EFL's Building Foundations Fund, which will help toward the completion of the John Jenkins Stadium build.
Building work on the site of Moneyfields FC's home ground, Dover Road began March 2022 but is still awaiting completion, however that may not be too far away now thanks to a generous grant from the EFL.
Whilst the pitches have been laid and the framework of the building has been erected, there remains a lot of work to do in order to fully complete the work at the stadium. Such things like painting cycle lanes, creating speed bumps on the new road leading up to the car park and tidying up the building interiors are just a few of many factors that still need to be considered before every inch of the site can be opened to the public.
Express FM's Jake Smith has been speaking with PitC CEO Clare Martin with regards to this grant and exactly what can be achieved with the money that is to be provided from it:
The John Jenkins Stadium will be used as a hub for Pompey In The Community and the facility will be home to more than just 2 11-a-side football pitches - There will also be a fully functioning kitchen, gym, dance studio, boxing facilities, club house and much more.
£5million had been funded for this project by The Football Foundation, Pompey Supporters' Trust, The Eisner Foundation, Portsmouth City Council, the Government's Levelling Up fund, Veolia, the Beneficial Foundation and PitC fundraising.
Every week across term time, Pompey In The Community provide coaching and a variety of training programmes to more than 6,000 students and pupils, which equates to over 36,000 people each year.
Pompey Women will also be using the facilities at the John Jenkins Stadium and suggestions had been made to have the team play their league and cup fixtures there too, however recent success in the FA Women's National League - Southern Premier Division and National League Cup has seen attendances at Westleigh Park increase, meaning they may have already outgrown the new ground without having yet kicked a ball inside of it.
The Barclays Championship, where Jay Sadler's side are likely to play their league football next season, also has strict regulations and standards for teams and their home bases which unfortunately, the John Jenkins Stadium does not meet. This means that the Portsmouth Women may continue to play their home fixtures at Havant & Waterlooville with some games also at Fratton Park.
Tune in to The Football Hour every Monday and Friday evening from 6pm for the latest Portsmouth Football Club news, guest reaction and exclusive interviews.
This week however, the show will air on Thursday (March 28th) instead of Friday due to the scheduling of Pompey's Good Friday fixture with Wycombe Wanderers.
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