The Deputy Mayor of Crawley, Councillor Jilly Hart, joined the club Chairman at the opening of Three Bridges FC new 3G synthetic pitch at its facility Jubilee Field on Saturday 22 March.
The £1 million cost of the pitch was mostly funded from the Premier League, Football Association (FA) and government’s Football Foundation, together with £70,000 raised by the club itself and around £100,000 from Crawley Borough Council.
Councillor Hart was joined by the entire team of Three Bridges FC as well as Crawley Borough Council Cabinet members, as they played the opening game of the season against Beckenham Town.
The date also marked the official ‘Non-League Day’ where fans are encouraged to check out football at non-league level.
Crawley Borough Council allocated funding from its Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL), a charge placed on developments to help deliver the infrastructure needed to support the growth of either the population or commercial activities in an area.
Councillor Hart said:
“It was my pleasure to open the new pitch for Three Bridges FC.
"Developing and supporting grass roots sport is so important, as it helps encourage people to take part which improves health, but also give people something to support and get involved with.
"Who knows, perhaps the Gareth Southgate of the future is just about to start out with Three Bridges?”
Councillor Chris Mullins, Cabinet member for Leisure and Wellbeing, said:
“This council has demonstrated its commitment to developing sport across the borough.
"We have invested £2million to update the facilities at K2 Crawley leisure centre and here we are today opening this new pitch to support grass roots football.
“We absolutely recognise the commitment of the club and its supporters to get to this point.
"There have been some significant challenges, but the dedication of all those involved mean that we are here today opening this great community facility.”
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