After years upon year of careful planning, months of building work and three frustrating lockdowns, Helsby Community Sports Club's brand-new clubhouse is finally able to open its outdoor pitches from Monday.

The new development is home to all sorts of state-of-the-art facilities, with a floodlit 3G pitch, artificial bowls greens, rugby pitches and tennis courts, as well as the clubhouse itself.

As we sit on the cusp of this new chapter in the Club's history, we thought we'd take a look back through the many phases of this exciting new development.

The Beginning

1895: Helsby Community Sports Club is formed as Helsby Athletic Club, following the amalgamation of Helsby's Cricket and Rugby Football Clubs.

1934: BICC General Cables Ltd run the Club for the benefit of their factory employees.

1982: Helsby Sports Club is chosen as the starting point for the first Four Villages Half Marathon, which is now in its 37th year, with over 2,000 runners.

Thanks to Covid-19, the race could not take place this year, but that did not stop the runners from raising nearly £2,500 for Halton Haven and the Hospice of the Good Shepherd.

1991: Management of the Sports Club passes to a volunteer committee, who have run it ever since as a not-for-profit organisation.

As well as providing sporting facilities, the Sports Club has since played host to a long list of community events and activities, from family fun days to beer festivals to psychic nights to Helsfest Rock Festival!

A New Start for the Club

2003: Helsby Community Sports Club now provides facilities and coaching for sports including rugby, football, bowls, tennis, fishing darts and snooker.

With all the sporting sections of the Club growing and the clubhouse in need of various costly repairs, the committee begin to form loose plans for a new facility.

2008: Having already received some funding from Helsby Parish Council, the Rural Delivery Programme, Brook House and Steve O'Connor, and secured Michael Owen as a patron of the club, the committee make a presentation to the then Shadow Secretary of State for Sport, Culture and Media, Jeremy Hunt, highlighting the need for new facilities.

2009: An initial planning application for the new site is submitted.

2015: A revised planning application for the new facility is approved unanimously by Cheshire West and Chester Council.

2017: Club membership reaches 850, and is growing all the time.

Helsby's MP, Mike Amesbury, takes a visit to the existing clubhouse and gives his backing for the new development.

2018: Helsby Community Sports Club's move is confirmed, as the new clubhouse development gets the go ahead.

February 2020: Work finally begins on the new clubhouse.

March 2020: The old clubhouse closes its doors at the beginning of the first national coronavirus lockdown.

April 2020: Even at the height of lockdown, the new build begins to gather momentum. With the foundations laid, the clubhouse skeleton starts to take shape, gaining a roof, floors and walls!

December 2020: Building work on the new site is completed and ownership is transferred to Helsby Community Sports Club, who set about filling the facility with furniture old and new.

January 2021: The clubhouse opening is delayed by the third national coronavirus lockdown.

February 2021: Demolition work begins on the old Sports Club, which is now being redeveloped for housing by Trafford Housing Trust.

March 29 2021: As lockdown eases, the new clubhouse is finally allowed to open its outdoor facilities!

On Monday, the Club's 3G pitch, tennis courts and bowls green will be used for the first time, Helsby Running Club will resume small group activities and rugby and football will return soon after.

One day, Helsby Community Sports Club hope that, when further funding has been secured, they will be able to add a gym and sports hall to the clubhouse.

Many thanks to Jackie Keasley and Helsby Community Sports Club for the information included in this article.