Hornets legend Graham Taylor has opened a two million pound pitch at a sports centre which will be used by community clubs.

The floodlit, 3G artificial grass pitch was officially opened yesterday by the former Watford and England manager at Meriden Community Centre in Garsmouth Way.

Elected Mayor of Watford Baroness Dorothy Thornhill MBE and Watford FC’s Troy Deeney, Heurelho Gomes and Jerome Sinclair all joined Meriden Community Centre funders and trust partners to celebrate the opening.

Previously, the site was home to a sand-filled pitch, which could no longer cope with the high demand from local grassroots football clubs who were lacking a quality venue for training and matches.

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The facility has now been transformed with male and female changing rooms and state of the art gym, as well as the revamped main hall, flexible space and café.

The project was supported by a grant of £250,916 from the Premier League and The FA Facilities Fund, which is delivered by the Football Foundation, as well as funds from Watford Borough Council, Watford Community Housing Turst, the Bernard Sunley Charitable Foundation and Watford FC’s CSE Trust itself.

Several amateur teams will now call the new facility home including Garston Ladies FC, Everett Rovers FC and Garston Boys FC.

The opening saw the Hornets join in with demonstrations from pupils at Knutsford Primary School on the pitch, speeches from the trust’s community director Rob Smith and Head of Facilities and Inclusion, Steve Williams.