The football star has fond memories of playing at the centre

The money will be spent on turning a derelict former miners' welfare centre in Ashington into a new facility for the community.

The Hirst Welfare Centre will have a footballing centre of excellence, with �500,000 from the Football Foundation.

The centre will also house a range of facilities and is due to open its doors later this year.

Mr Charlton signalled the start of the work on Monday morning. He said he had fond memories of playing football there.

Fell into disrepair

He said: "You would come here and get a game any Sunday morning and it was packed.

"Every pitch was taken and you stood and suddenly a lad would say I've got to go home for my dinner and so you would take his place. You would play in the game until it was time for you to go to go home for your dinner.

"The score at that time might have been 72-69 because the game didn't stop it just went on all day."

In its heyday, the centre was a thriving sporting hub with an athletics track which once hosted the All-England schools championships.

The ground and building were paid for by local miners through a levy taken each week from their pay packets.

But after the closure of local pits, the centre fell into disrepair and had to be demolished in the mid 1990s.

Since then, the Ashington Joint Welfare Trust has been working with Wansbeck Council, Northumberland County Council and the Coal Industry Social Welfare Organisation to recreate the centre.