Nostell Miners Welfare Football Club, part of Crofton Community Centre, are one of 97 sports projects across England to receive a share of ?5.5 million of National Lottery funding from Sport England?s ?Protected Playing Fields? fund to improve and protect their playing fields.

Crofton Community Centre will receive ?50,000 of National Lottery funding to make improvements to the playing surface of their main football and rugby pitches, which are currently unplayable during adverse weather conditions. Work will include the installation of extensive drainage systems, helping to reduce fixture cancellations.

The latest round of funding from Sport England will help upgrade 97 projects, which are responsible for 230 sports pitches, across the country as well as protecting them for a minimum of 25 years. This brings the total number of sports pitches improved and protected by the fund to almost 1,000 - totalling 3,500 acres - since 2011.

Sport England Chair, Nick Bitel, said: "We know how valuable playing fields are to communities throughout the country, giving individuals and teams somewhere to get active and enjoy sport. This fund allows us to maintain and protect these spaces so that high quality sports pitches are available in the heart of communities."

Granville Marshall from Nostell Miners Welfare said: "We are delighted that Sport England has approved funding to allow us to install the drainage systems, improving the playing surface of our two main pitches. These improvements, along with the guarantee of protection for at least 25 years, means that this sports facility can now be enjoyed by our community for many years to come."

Due to the huge demand for the programme and the high quality of applications received the initial ?4 million budget for the latest funding round was increased by ?1.5 million, allowing more projects to benefit.

Of the 97 projects receiving funding in today's announcement, 33 wish to become Queen Elizabeth II Fields after agreeing to dedicate their playing field in "perpetuity". This is thanks to a partnership with Fields in Trust (FIT) which is running the Queen Elizabeth II Fields Challenge as part of the programme to mark the Diamond Jubilee and the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games.

Helen Griffiths, Chief Executive of Fields in Trust, said: "Fields in Trust is delighted that the Protecting Playing Fields fund has raised the awareness of the Queen Elizabeth II Fields Challenge to so many sites and led to numerous expressions of interest in being protected through the Challenge. ?Investment to improve spaces such as those protected through Fields in Trust and increase participation on them is always much needed and so it is fantastic to see the funding provided by Sport England."