A SILSDEN club's premises impressed a Government minister during her visit to the district to promote investment in grassroots sport.

Minister for Sport, Tourism and Equalities Helen Grant MP was given a tour of Silsden Association Football Club on Friday afternoon.

She was shown around the clubhouse, which was built in 2009 and is mainly used by the football club and Silsden Cricket Club. It includes a function room, six changing rooms, a kitchen and a First Aid room.

Mrs Grant met club officials, Keighley district Conservatives – including MP Kris Hopkins – and admired the panoramic views of the Aire Valley, visible from Silsden's AFC's ground at the Angel Telecom Stadium.

She said: "Kris told me about the very good work this club is doing in reaching out to the local community, so I wanted to speak to them about that have a look at their new facilities.

"The facilities here are superb, and the club has around 400 members and growing. It also has marvellous scenery.

"If people have a good experience of sport they are more likely to stick to it. We want people to enjoy sport and to have a good time socially.

"We have a £1 billion youth and community strategy and we put a lot of money into our grassroots sports. That is very important to us, as it's at this level where most of us who play sports are involved.

"We're keen to improve and extend the facilities we have and to increase the number of coaches."

Mrs Grant noted that grassroots football was benefitting from £102 million worth of investment via a Government, FA, and Premier League scheme being delivered by the Football Foundation.

Mr Hopkins said: "Helen wanted to come and see some grassroots sport in my constituency, and I thought there would be few places better for her to visit than Silsden AFC. It's an amazing place."

Club chairman John Lohan said: "It's encouraging for us that Mrs Grant has taken time out to see what we are doing and to give us the backing that we need.

"One of our major aims now is to get all-weather pitches, so we can offer players more opportunities to develop their skills.

"This is especially important for the youngsters coming through. Their skills can be developed more quickly if we have a decent surface."

He added that the cost of a good quality full-size all-weather pitch was about £480,000, though noted that once the club has such a pitch it would be able to gain an income by hiring it out to other organisations.