BOROUGH sports bosses have netted more than half a million pounds for a state-of-the-art football pitch at the Dell Stadium.

The £544,000 has come from the Football Foundation and will be spent on creating an ultra modern artificial turf pitch at the Brierley Hill venue, with the hope it will attract more teams and make it one of the top football sites in the borough.

Dudley Council will also invest £100,000 in the project, which will see the existing pitch replaced with a third generation artificial grass pitch.

The new pitch will cater for training and matches for all age groups and the design means the likelihood of having to postpone games would be limited.

Councillor Khurshid Ahmed, cabinet member for planning and economic development, said: “We’re committed to doing all we can to develop the leisure opportunities in the borough.

"This investment from the Football Foundation is great news for the Dell Stadium."

He continued: "It is already a fantastic sports facility that is incredibly popular with local football teams.

"But creating this new pitch provides the opportunity for more teams to come along to train and play.”

Work on the new pitch will begin later this year and it will be game ready in early 2017.