The launch of an all-weather pitch at Partington Sports Village was welcomed by all those in attendance at its opening last month.

The £1m project was supported by £200,000 in funding from the council and £800,000 in funding from the Football Foundation.

The funding from the council came from the £18m sum it received after a bid to the Levelling Up scheme was successful last year. The rest of the sum is to be spent on Partington Sports Village itself as well as in areas such as a BMX track and the changing rooms on Cross Lane.

On January 30, at a ceremony attended by guests including council leader Tom Ross and Mayor of Trafford Dolores O'Sullivan, the launch of the all-weather pitch was welcomed by all those in attendance.

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Cllr Ross said: "We are transforming Partington Sports Village into a state-of-the-art facility and the artificial pitch is a fantastic addition to this facility. 

"We are committed to ensuring residents are given access to fabulous facilities like this. Young male and female football stars will begin their journeys here and it will be used by the community for decades."

The responsibility for the all-weather pitch is to be shared between the trust responsible for Broadoak School, the Dean Trust, and Trafford Leisure.

It doubles the capacity meaning even more grassroots teams are able to benefit from the facilities.

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Jo Cherrett, the chief executive of Trafford Leisure, said: "We are delighted the new pitch is open making Partington Sports Village a centre of excellence in Greater Manchester.  The extra capacity will mean even more grassroots teams and groups will benefit from the facilities. 

"It is fantastic we have had an uptick in girls and women wanting to play football, with Partington Sports Village already being home to a dedicated girls' league and women’s league. Building on the legacy of the Women’s European Championships, which were hosted in Trafford, we hope this new pitch and the changing rooms on Cross Lane mean we can meet the demand for even more women’s football." 

This article was written by Jack Tooth. To contact him, email jack.tooth@newsquest.co.uk or follow @JTRTooth on Twitter.