YOUNG footballers in Newton Aycliffe will soon be enjoying new training facilities, thanks to a £142,000 grant from the Football Foundation.

The cash boost, part of the foundation's and the New Opportunities Fund's £30m commitment of National Lottery money to school football facilities, will help fund an all-weather floodlit pitch at Greenfield School Community and Arts College.

It will provide the finishing touch to what the Football Foundation recognises will be one of the best sports complexes in the North-East.

The provision of the pitch will complement facilities at the school, which include three full-size soccer pitches, a junior size pitch, rugby pitch and three floodlit tennis courts, all of which are to be made available for use by the wider community.

Funding for the all-weather pitch was the result of a successful three-way joint bid by Greenfield School, Newton Aycliffe Youth Centre Football Club and Newton Aycliffe Sports Club Junior Football Club.

It is expected that more than 100,000 footballers of all ages and abilities will use the Greenfield facilities each year.

Participation rates at the site, particularly among women and girls, are forecast to rise by 800 per cent.

Greenfield headteacher Mike Thornton said: "It is the same sort of surface that Manchester United players train on and will be the first floodlit all-weather pitch that Newton Aycliffe has ever had."

The pitch should be ready for use by autumn.

It will be the first of its kind in County Durham. The balance of the £206,200 cost is being met from a Department for Education and Skills grant.

Peter Sproates, of Newton Aycliffe Sports Club Junior FC, said: "The new pitch will be of tremendous benefit to us as it will provide a safe environment where we can train our players and play matches throughout the year on a suitable floodlit playing surface that is not susceptible to weather conditions."

Joe Blackett, of Newton Aycliffe Youth Centre FC, said: "The new facilities will not only benefit the young people of Newton Aycliffe, but also the community as a whole."

Peter Lee, chief executive of the Football Foundation, said: "These outstanding new facilities at Newton Aycliffe will rank among the best in the North-East."