It was great to hear yesterday’s news that the diggers will be moving in to Ronald Johnson fields in New Moston to commence work on FC United’s new ground and facilities.

It has been a long journey fraught with many difficulties which culminated in plans for a move to Ten Acres Lane falling foul, so to speak, of local government cuts as well as some opposition from local residents to the current move.

This is the announcement as it appeared yesterday on the club’s website.

Today we can make the historic announcement that building work will start on our new football ground, sports and other community facilities in Moston in early November 2013.

The announcement of a start date follows confirmation of the signing of the lease between FC United and Manchester City Council and the confirmation of funding for the £5.5m project. We are delighted to tell you that building will start next month on the site at Ronald Johnson Playing Fields in Moston, north Manchester and is expected to take around 40 weeks, with a projected completion date of late summer 2014.

Make no mistake about it – this is a momentous day for FC United of Manchester and also for the local community who will benefit from this facility. Project funding has been driven by FC United members, who have raised over £2m and which have helped unlock the support of funders including Sport England, the Football Foundation, Manchester City Council and the Manchester College. The support of these partners has been pivotal and we thank them for their resolute support through this long process. This is a brilliant achievement and one of which everyone connected with the club should be very proud.

We cannot speak too highly of the support we have received from our members and supporters who have raised hundreds of thousands of pounds in cash plus close to £2 million pounds through our trailblazing community share scheme. Members’ funds have been matched by additional financial support from Manchester City Council, Sport England, The Football Foundation and The Manchester College recognising the social and sporting benefits the development will bring. The project is a genuine local partnership bringing together an array of local organisations and stakeholders with FC United’s co-owners.

FC United’s key sporting partner in this project is Moston Junior Football Club, one of Manchester’s leading junior football clubs and former leaseholder of Ronald Johnson Playing Fields, which celebrates its 20th birthday in 2013. We are delighted to be working in partnership with Moston Juniors and look forward to achieving great things together as we move forward with the project.

The announcement of the start of work on the facility is the culmination of seven years’ work for our supporter-owned club. In 2006 we began our quest to build a home ground, sports and other community facilities which would allow our club to develop its vision of democratically owned and controlled, community-driven football that would entertain, develop sports participation and both engage and provide lasting benefits for local residents and community groups. The process has been complex and challenging but, with the support of funders, the city council and Moston Juniors and our members and supporters, we are now ready to embark on work on site.

We have always said that this development is not about just football – residents of north Manchester will gain access to excellent community facilities offering a range of other sports alongside non-sporting activities. We are really excited about the commencement of work on the project and are celebrating today, but a bigger celebration will be when we complete the construction of the ground and the community facilities which will have such a positive effect on the local community and beyond.

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