Date: 30th June 2017 at 3:45pm
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Former Southampton manager, and Football Foundation Ambassador, Nigel Adkins spent an afternoon opening Applemore Technology College’s brand new all-weather facility down on the south coast. 

Adkins, who took The Saints from the foot of League One to the Premier League in 2012, opened the new pitch, in the pouring rain, before taking some time to answer some questions that the school’s Sports Ambassadors had for him.

The promotion winner then imparted coaching advice to budding young sportspeople as he toured the new pitch, before speaking at length with students in a Q&A session about his career as a player, physio and manager.

Adkins (second from right).

Impressed by the new facility, Adkins said, “What an absolutely incredible facility this is.

“It was a real pleasure to open it for Applemore – you can see the huge impact it is going to have just from watching the students already using it.

“Who knows, maybe Applemore College can produce some future stars of the game. The area has been a conveyor belt of talent over the years and this new pitch, combined with Southampton FC’s influence, can help to continue that trend.”

The College has a partnership in place with Southampton Football Club, which will see young players from its Academy use the facility to hone their skills, while attending school to gain their GCSEs.

The former top-flight boss was delighted to find out that the project was set to increase the number of players in the Under-14 and Under-16 age groups by 197 per cent, with a further 40 per cent increase in disability and female football.

The project was made possible thanks to a £265,364 grant from the Premier League & The FA Facilities Fund, which provides grants towards developing new or refurbished grassroots football facilities.

A £280,000 grant was also received from Sport England.

Everyone at the Foundation would like to thank our Ambassador, Nigel Adkins, for giving his time to support the grassroots game.

Words by David Hartley

 
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