Work has kicked off on a £1.1 million revamp of Malvern Town Football Club.

An official groundbreaking ceremony was held at the club to celebrate the beginning of the project that will transform the stadium at Langland Avenue.

Under the scheme, the pitch will be replaced with a state-of-the-art 3G artificial playing surface, there will be new modern changing rooms built to FA standards and the floodlighting will also be improved.

The project is being funded by £600,000 from the Premier League/Football Foundation Football Facilities grant, £100,000 from the Football Foundation’s Stadium Improvement Fund and more than £300,000 from money linked to planning agreements given to Malvern Hills District Council.

The club has also raised £50,000 through sponsorship and donations.

Work will start on the changing rooms first allowing the club to complete all of its remaining home fixtures.

The pitch and other improvements will then be carried out over the summer and are due to be completed in September.

The council has been working with the club on the project to help achieve its ambition to expand the number of junior, girls and women’s teams, train more higher level coaches and improve the first team so it can compete at a higher level.

Off the pitch, it is also hoped the new agreement will allow the club to build on its range of community projects such as providing diversionary activities for young people at risk of low level anti-social behaviour, family fun days and holiday sport camps.

Club chairman Chris Pinder said: “For the 2019/20 season, Malvern's stadium is going to feel a very different place, offering a fantastic new experience for players and spectators alike. The new changing rooms are twice the size of the current ones and will be of very high quality.”

Mark Hammond, the district council's contracts and development manager, said: “We’re delighted work has finally begun on this important project that will deliver first-class facilities which will help the club achieve its ambition to become a community hub at the heart of the community.”

The club is also one of six non-league clubs that will compete for a share of the Buildbase £100k Transfer Deal 2019, a renovation programme for clubs playing in the Buildbase FA Trophy or Buildbase FA Vase competitions.

The clubs will pitch their renovation plans to judges at Wembley Stadium on June 5, and the two winners will each get a £25,000 bursary.