WORK is under way to create a £3million five-a-side football centre in the East End of Glasgow.

WORK is under way to create a £3million five-a-side football centre in the East End of Glasgow.

The centre will include eight pitches, laid with state-of-the-art rubber flooring, a bar, changing rooms and children's play areas.

Bothwell-based Northwind Leisure Soccer is behind the country's second Soccerworld, which will be built in Ruchazie on the former playing fields of Whitehill School.

The centre, which will create around 50 jobs and should be open by next summer, will operate on a pay-as-you-play basis.

The company says it will allow schools and disadvantaged groups to use the sports facility free of charge.

Youth football teams in the area, including Muirton Boys Club, will also have access to the facilities.

The area where the centre will be built has one of the lowest employment rates in Britain.

Northwind bosses said they will be recruiting staff entirely from the local area.

A youth soccer academy will be set up in association with the Scottish Football Association, along with summer camps for children, inter-school competitions, youth league programmes and celebrity coaching camps.

For adults, there will be leagues, cup competitions and national events.

Ian McDermot, of Northwind Leisure, said: "The aim is to provide footballers with a first-class five-a-side facility.

"There is a huge demand for outdoor football facilities in Glasgow but no-one is providing facilities for indoor use.

"We are giving all the local community groups free use of the facilities at certain times of the day.

"We are also taking on around 50 staff and they will all be recruited from the local area."

A similar facility, the first of its kind in Scotland, recently opened in Dundee.

Local councillor Gerry Leonard, said: "I'm delighted this is coming to the area.

"The council doesn't have the cash to build facilities like this in the current climate.

"Although this is a private facility the developers have said the centre can be used by local football clubs.

"Not only will this provide a fantastic facility for the local community but it will also provide local jobs in an area that badly needs them."