NEWTOWN Football Club and the FAW Girls Performance Centre are merging.

The new Newtown AFC Girls Performance Centre has been hailed as an exciting new chapter for women's football in mid Wales.

Centre director Ffion Barnett said: "I believe it is an exciting opportunity for the development of girls football in Central Wales.

"The performance centre will very much look the same in some aspects in terms of the set up, but we now have an exciting opportunity for the girls to continue their player pathway from U12's through to U19's.

"The aim is to provide more opportunities for the girls to play, and to compete against other teams.

"We are following the same route as the North Wales Performance Centre whereby they now come under the umbrella of Wrexham Football Club.

"I am really looking forward to starting this new partnership and providing more opportunities and a stronger pathway for girls and girls football in Central Wales."

Newtown Academy Head of Coaching Craig Williams added: "The Girls Performance Centre will be working closely with the boys Academy that we already have in place, and we are excited to welcome them under the umbrella of Newtown Football Club.

"We are looking to provide a clear pathway for the girls right up to U19's, with the longer term vision of a ladies team being created in the not too distant future.

"We also want to help provide the girls with competitive fixtures and a robust training program. We can't wait to get started with the training sessions and look forward to seeing the girls in action very soon."

Open training sessions will commence on Monday, May 10.

There will be eight sessions running which will conclude on Monday, July 5 and these sessions will serve to welcome the girls back to football, to bring enjoyment and fun back on to the football pitch, and to welcome the girls to the new-look Newtown AFC Girls Performance Centre.

Barnett added: "We are looking forward to seeing lots of new faces at the training sessions as all are welcome, and we are also looking forward to welcoming back our performance centre players, past and present."