The FA unveiled the first of its proposed 30 nationwide ‘Parklife’ hubs in Sheffield on Wednesday – and Owls head coach Carlos Carvalhal was on hand to mark the grand opening.
The all-purpose facility, at Graves Leisure Centre, houses state of the art artificial football pitches on which local youngsters can train and play with an eye on a future in the beautiful game.
The official opening of the Steel City Parklife hub attracted nationwide media and each organisation was keen to hear the views of Wednesday chief Carvalhal.
He said: “I look around here and straight away, I am impressed.
“The pitches are fantastic, and so are the facilities and this should be a very proud moment for Sheffield and the FA.
“If we are to produce the footballers of tomorrow from the city, we have to give every single boy and girl the opportunity to progress their talent.
“The FA have clearly invested a lot of time, money and energy into this facility and they deserve to see many successes in the future.
“As we know, football is a game that unites people around the world and for me, I say it is very, very important that this unity starts at grassroots level.”