The Irchester-born defender won 50 caps for the Three Lions and won eight First Division titles and four European Cups during his time at Anfield, before moving into management with Bolton Wanderers and Coventry City.
And he was on hand to officially open Irchester Sports Association’s new dressing room pavilion and clubhouse refurbishments, before passing on his expert advice to a number of young players at the venue.
Former England and Liverpool star Phil Neal was born in the village of Irchester
The project was made possible thanks to £99,990 from the Premier League & The FA Facilities Fund and £99,998 from the Football Stadia Improvement Fund (FSIF), which is delivered by the Football Foundation and provides grants towards developing new or refurbished grassroots football facilities.
Those grants have enabled the Association to build a new pavilion comprising four dual-gender changing rooms, two officials’ rooms and plant storage. The work improves the site’s previous facilities, which were in a poor state and had restricted the club’s growth.
Additionally, the kitchen and spectator toilet facilities in the main clubhouse have also been refurbished, with the Football Foundation working together with the Northamptonshire FA to produce a five-year Football Development Plan.
The plan is a vision for how football will be delivered at the site with the emphasis placed on increasing and maximising participation.
Strong partnerships are already in place with local FA Charter Standard Clubs Irchester United FC, Irchester Sports FC and Irchester Romans Youth FC, who currently operate 16 teams between them at the site. This work will create a minimum of four additional teams over the next five years.
"It was a privilege to be back in Irchester and help officially open these wonderful new changing facilities," said Neal, who initially began his playing career with local club Northampton Town.
"I’ve seen how hard club members have worked to bring this project to fruition and provide a sustainable future for the club and grassroots sport in the local area.
"It is also great to see the Premier League, The FA and Government providing investment into grassroots football through the Football Foundation.
"If we are to produce better players for our national teams then it is essential that we continue to invest in high-quality facilities."
John Maguire, Chairman of Irchester Sports Association, added: "We have received tremendous support from staff at the Northamptonshire FA, Football Foundation and FSIF throughout the duration of this project.
"The new facilities will be massively important to sport in the local area and I’d like to thank Phil Neal, Irchester-born and one of the most-decorated English footballers of all time, for officially opening our new facilities.
"The Irchester Sports Association would also like to thank the Premier League & The FA Facilities Fund and FSIF for providing investment, which will encourage further growth of grassroots football and hopefully our small village can have another player that goes on to gain 50 England caps!"
The Premier League & The FA Facilities Fund is paid for by the Premier League, The FA, and the Government, via Sport England. It is delivered by the Football Foundation, the country’s largest sports charity.
Since it was launched in 2000, the Foundation has awarded around 13,000 grants worth more than £530m towards improving grassroots sport, which it has used to attract additional partnership funding of over £740m – over £1.3bn of investment into the grassroots game.
