Pupils at Meridian School, Royston, got a master-class in goalkeeping and defending from one of England’s greatest ever goalkeepers this week.
Former England international Peter Shilton MBE, OBE, in his role as Brand Ambassador of IGOAL visited the Hertfordshire-based school as he officially opened their brand new 3rd generation artificial grass pitch (AGP).
Shilton, who himself made his full senior debut for Leicester City FC at the schoolboy age of 16, was considered by Brian Clough to be the greatest English goalkeeper of all time and in 1990 helped England reach the semi finals of the World Cup for the first time since 1966.
Meridian School, along with the Hertfordshire County FA, applied to the Football Foundation for investment towards developing the new sports site and were successful in getting £316,750. The Football Foundation is the country’s largest sports charity, with £40m provided each year by the Premier League, The FA and Government.
This funding boost has now enabled Royston Community to build a fantastic new facility at Meridian School. The AGP will allow Meridian School, Royston Town and Royston Celtic football clubs and other users to offer improved and expanded pitch access. The full-size pitch can be sub-divided into three ‘mini pitches’ for training or junior use and is served by the schools outstanding changing facilities and a community room.
The new facility is an impressive addition to the community and will help to develop links between the community, Meridian School and local clubs such as Royston Town FC, strengthening the town’s sports and football development infrastructure. To aid this, the grant has also provided the opportunity to employ Sports Development Officer Jenny Probert, who is responsible for creating these links and providing coaching, training and tournaments on the new facility.
Peter Shilton said: “It’s a real pleasure to be here on such a special occasion. I know the huge amount of effort that’s gone into the securing of these wonderful facilities and I’d like to congratulate everyone involved. It’s a fantastic achievement and having a great facility such as this is superb for the area.”
Dr M Firth, Head teacher of Meridian School said: “Without the all-important grant from the Football Foundation, this outstanding community and school facility would not have happened. On behalf of all those who will benefit from it, we are grateful to all community partners who helped make it happen.”
Jenny Probert, the new Sports Development Officer at Meridian School said: “The new facility at Meridian School is going to be a great asset to Royston and I’m sure the whole community will benefit from it being here. It is great to be working on such an exciting project and I look forward to getting things started!”
Redyset said: “We are delighted to have our brand Ambassador Peter Shilton here today to officially open these new facilities. It is a real community celebration as local people in and around Royston as well as the pupils are going to be able to use the site to play football and a range of other sports.
“There is always a need for safe sports facilities and we are delighted to see the school, Hertfordshire FA work together to secure the Football Foundation funding for this project. Redyset will continue to support Hertfordshire FA and their other partners through IGOAL, which is well suited to temporary or divided mini pitch situations, to make safe football a possibility to as wide an audience as possible.”
For more information on Football Foundation funding, click here >>