A football tournament involving youngsters from four north-east schools has marked the launch of Turriff’s new all-weather sports pitch.
The £210,000 addition to the Turriff Sports Centre was officially opened yesterday, when boys and girls teams from the Gordon Schools, Banff Academy, Meldrum Academy and Turriff Academy marched onto the 3G surface.
The pitch replaced a sand-filled playing surface.
Helping to relaunch the facility yesterday, councillors said they hoped it would become “another string” in the town’s bow.
Councillor Alastair Forsyth said: “There’s a demand for it and the surface we have now is to be highly commended.
“It’s something you can come down here in the evening to see and the floodlights will be on, and people will be using it at 8.30pm or 9pm in the night.
“For the future, you just have to look at the Andy Murrays of the world – from an acorn to an oak tree. That’s what your investment is all about.
“But it’s important that the infrastructure is in place in the first place. And this will give them a pitch of a very high standard, which can cater for beginners right through to professionals.”
Turriff councillor Iain Taylor added: “The council has put in money, but the community has also put in a considerable effort – everyone is pulling together.
“It’s great to see it finally.
“It’s a community sports centre and it will cater for the whole of the community.
They also praised locals who, during the construction of the project, had to suffer vandalism to one of the town’s only other playing surfaces.
The culprits tore through Turriff’s Haughs on an all-terrain vehicle and scarred the town’s grass pitch in October.
Anne Stirling, the chairwoman of Aberdeenshire Council’s communities committee, said: “Sport is not only great exercise but encourages important skills such as leadership and teamwork.
“I would thank the public for their patience while this work has taken place and hope everybody enjoys the new facility.”
