Two very bright Sparks!

South Park Reigate officially opened their new 3G pitch a few weeks ago- and they had two special guests to cut the ribbon, as Chelsea and England footballers Reece and Lauren James were wielding the scissors.

As well as the famous duo- pictured above- The Sparks were also graced with the attendance of representatives from their funding partners, members of their Senior and Junior teams, Surrey County FA as well as representatives from many of the users of the pitch. League Chairman Nick Robinson was also in attendance.

The new pitch, which you may have already seen in action, is now used by all of the many teams at the club- from Under 7's through to the 1st team, the Veterans side, as well as many other local clubs including Reigation's, Reigate Priory Juniors, Horley Town, Kingstonian Youth, Reigate Women, East Surrey Hawks and Sutton Utd to name but a few. With the weather over the past few months the installation of the 3G pitch could not have come at a better time for the Sparks- and for the many other users of the facility.

The Chairman of South Park Sport's Association Richard Hyett thanked all of those who had contributed to the project over the past five years to deliver a first class facility for our teams and the local community to use. This included funding partners The Football Foundation, Surrey County Council's Your Fund, Reigate & Banstead Council and Shanley Homes who all provided Grants to the project. Richard also thanked Steve Robb & Matt Kiley for their tireless work in securing the funding and SIS Pitches in delivering the project.

Many congratulations to all at the club on the opening of such a fine facility- and a very well done for the many, many hours of hard work it has taken to reach this stage.

Images courtesy of Shaun Peters. Many thanks to Nick Thatcher for the words.

Follow the Pitching In Isthmian League on Instagram. Head here or search for theisthmianleague on your app. We're also on Facebook and Twitter.