A FOOTBALL club that was established two years ago with only two players has been awarded £3,000 of funding from Lloyds Bank.

Ponthir Junior Football Club (JFC) was established at the start of the 2012/13 season, but they quickly recruited enough players to set up an under 9s team to play in the Torfaen Mini Football League.

The club was set up by Paul Davies and Reggie Al-Haddi in April 2012 and is based at the Ponthir District Sports Club.

It was awarded the £3,000 from the Lloyds Community Fund for Newport East after it won a vote held by the bank. beating hundreds of other community groups.

It received about 1,000 votes, about 32 per cent of all those cast.

Players and coaches celebrated their win at a football party at the University of South Wales in Caerleon. At the start of the 2013/14 season in September the club formed an under 10s team but were unable to expand any further due to a lack of funds. Mr Davies said he now hopes the club will be able to add to its 25 players. It has applied to include an under 8s team in the Torfaen football league this month. This team will be led by coaches Mark Wyatt and Karl Sansom. Mr Davies said: “Reggie and I would like to say a massive thank you to everyone who voted for the club and the Ponthir community who have shown unbelievable support and encouragement.”

To find out more about the clubV

Visit the club’s website www.ponthirafc.co.uk