St Edmundsbury Borough Council (SEBC) has handed over the keys to a new £2m football ground in Haverhill, Suffolk, to the Haverhill Community Sports Association (HCSA).

The local authority spearheaded the New Croft project, which will provide a new home for Haverhill Rovers Football Club and aims to help increase participation. Social facilities are also available for community hire. A ceremony was held to mark the handover of the venue on 2 August, with SEBC providing £1.4m towards the project. A further £550,000 came from the Football Foundation and Football Stadia Improvement Fund.

HCSA chair Tom Harrison said: "It has come about as the result of many years hard work by those involved in providing football for the town and the generous funding made available by St Edmundsbury Borough Council and the Football Association." SEBC cabinet member for culture and sport Lynsey Alexander added: "The council made a commitment to provide Haverhill with the leisure opportunities it lacked. We have delivered a cinema and major improvements to the leisure centre, but this community project has been the longest in the making and I hope, in its legacy."