BBC Sport presenter Mike Bushell officially opened Testbourne Community School's new floodlit third generation (3G) artificial grass pitch (AGP) recently.
The new full-size pitch was made possible thanks to investment from the Premier League, The FA and Government's Football Foundation.
After netting a £474,800 grant from the Football Foundation, work begun on the site in July 2018. The new pitch provides the school's PE Department with a first-class facility and can be used by local community sport and recreation groups outside of school hours.
With no other all-weather surfaces within 10 miles of the school, Hampshire County FA identified the site as a priority area to offer local youth football clubs with an accessible training facility. Another key factor for Hampshire FA was to provide essential match play opportunities for youth football due to insufficient pitches in the area.
The new facility will serve two partner clubs, Whitchurch FC and Overton Youth FC. The partner clubs worked in conjunction with Hampshire FA to focus on increasing provision for competitive football participation over the next five years and aim to establish 20 new youth football teams between them during this time.
For the full article: www.footballfoundation.org.uk
