We were pleased to recently welcome Henley Mayor Rory Hunt to the club to celebrate the decision and recognise all the hard work from both AFC Henley volunteers and the team at Henley Town Council.

Mayor Hunt met with players from our growing girls' section as well as boys from our U11 age group. Clearly, this new facility is testament to our continued close partnership with Henley Town Council and reflects our growing reputation as a thriving community club.

Trevor Howell, AFC Henley Treasurer, said it had been a long time coming.

He said: “After eight years of business cases, presentations, and negotiations we have finally got the green light from the Football Foundation to build the 3G pitch.

“They have been very prescriptive about what they expect from us because they are putting in so much money, but we have overcome all the difficulties in negotiations with them and we are looking forward to seeing the new pitch, hopefully in the early part of next year.

“It is great news for the community because the 3G will be there as a public facility seven days a week, but we will have exclusive use of it on a Saturday morning, which is when we play all our matches. From our perspective it will be a great addition and will attract more people to the club.”

Read the full article at HenleyStandard.co.uk