​Thousands get on the ball at Dinnington's 3G pitch

The new all-weather facility, which replaced the old grass pitch at Dinnington Resource Centre, has enabled thousands more people to don their boots and get active.

The FIFA-approved 3G pitch was installed last summer following grant funding from the Football Foundation and other funders.

Previously only available to two football teams, the pitch is now home to Dinnington Town Football Club’s 21 teams, including its first team and other age group sides from under-5s to over-45s.

The club has created five new teams in the last 12 months with a focus on juniors and girls, and an additional 18 other local groups have been able to use the new facilities over the last year also.

Recently the trustees of the Dinnington charity came together with users of the facility and representatives of the funding organisations which made the project possible to celebrate the first 12 months of its use in a formal opening ceremony.

Prior to the ceremonial ribbon cutting a football match took place between sixth form pupils from Dinnington High School and King Edward VII School from Sheffield. The players and coaching staff joined in for the official opening alongside local football legend Tony Currie who had the honour of cutting the ribbon with the chair of Trustees, Jane Havenhand, centre manager Darron Crookes, Dinnington Town FC chairman Andy Marshall and CISWO development manager Rick O’Toole.

The whole project, which included improved floodlighting, spectator stand and fencing, cost around £1 million, with almost half coming from the Football Foundation. Other funds included £100,000 from the FCC Communities Foundation, £100,000 from Viridor Credits and £90,000 from CISWO, the coal mining charity, as well as contributions from Dinnington Town Council, Dinnington Town Football Club and the Bramall Foundation.

As well as providing funding for the project, CISWO provided guidance in a range of land and governance matters to help the regeneration run smoothly.

Darron Crookes, Dinnington Resource Centre manager, said: “The pitch has been in use almost every day over the past year, with the exception of a few Bank Holidays and a couple of days when the snow refused to melt.

“We’re very thankful to all our funders for their support in bring our plans to life.”