ANDY Murray’s magnificent win at Wimbledon might cure the long-term decline in tennis’ popularity, said top coaches in East Lancashire.

The Lawn Tennis Association (LTA), financed by Sport England, had its funding cut by £530,000 last year after numbers dwindled by 25per cent.

But Wimbledon, won by a British man for the first time in 77 years, has led to plenty of people dusting off their rack- ets, said Blackburn Northern’s head coach Jamie Hutchings.

Mr Hutchings, whose 12-year-old son, George, has won the junior Scottish Open – the same competition a young Murray won – said: “There has been a decline in the number of people play-ing, which is why the LTA had money taken off it, but around Wimbledon time we have more interest, and more people come down to the courts.

“In the next couple of weeks we are hoping we will get more of a demand.

“From the great day Murray had, it will be interesting to see what the reac- tion is. We will need a week or two to tell.

“Speaking as a coach, the bigger thing is that the LTA puts more emphasis on clubs and school tennis, and gets more people enjoying it as a whole, and not just the watching element.

“Too many players hang up the racket when they get to 14 or 15 and realise they will never be at the same level as Federer or Murray. We need those players to come and play for clubs.”

Ex-Blackburn Rovers striker Kevin Gallacher coaches at Ribchester Tennis Club, in the Ribble Valley.

He said popularity among young people waned when they head off to university, but argued tennis was as accessible as football.

The 46-year-old said: “When I start-ed football it was 50p to play. We have a few younger lads here who are stud-ents and they only pay £1.

“I think we might get a lot more people interested in the long term. In Scotland, Murray’s mum, Judith, is trying to get a lot of people playing.

“At some of the bigger clubs it’s exp-ensive, but local clubs are cheaper.”

Director of Crosshill Tennis Club, in Blackburn, Waqar Hussain, said: “We are a members-only club so the public can’t just come in, but when Wimb-ledon is on, the parks get busy and our members come here more often instead.

“The kids get enthused and the young ones come with their parents and knock a ball around.”