£620k FIFA 3G football pitch unveiled at Newton Heath

Ten Acres Lane Sports Centre, Newton Heath has unveiled a £620k football pitch.

The flood lit artificial pitch has been funded by the Football Foundation and Manchester City Council.

The new FIFA 1* 3G pitch will add to East Manchester’s world class community and elite sports facilities and encourage more people from all sections of the community to play football.

Saturday morning will be a chance to see local teams take to the pitches and take part in a series of community sessions.

Sessions organised by Manchester FA, City in the Community, Active Communities Network and Football Dream will be taking place throughout the day.

The development comes as Manchester enters the final stage of its bid to become the country’s first ever City Of Football.

Manchester has been selected for the final shortlist, along with Nottingham and Portsmouth. The winning city will be announced the week beginning 15 September 2014 by Sport England and receive £1.6 million National Lottery funding for grass roots football.

Councillor Rosa Battle, Manchester City Council executive member for culture and leisure, said: “Manchester, more than any other city, loves football. Not just watching it but getting out and playing it too.

“These new pitches will allow local residents to enjoy the game on a state-of-the-art surface and I’m sure the new pitch will prove incredibly popular. “The bedrock of our bid to become the City of Football is the aim to get as many people out playing the beautiful game as possible - these new facilities illustrate just how committed we are to that goal.”