Leaving a Champions League legacy
Saturday, June 3, 2017
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A new community pitch has opened in Cardiff on the eve of the 2017 UEFA Champions League final.
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The legacy of the 2017 UEFA Champions League final has been secured, thanks to the donation of a new maxi-pitch to the city.
In attendance at the ceremony in Cardiff were Jonathan Ford, Chief Executive of the Welsh Football Association, UEFA President Aleksander Čeferin, UEFA General Secretary Theodore Theodoridis, UEFA Champions League final ambassador Ian Rush and former Italian international striker Patrizia Panico.
The maxi-pitch hopes to inspire young girls and boys in Cardiff to play football, to develop the game at the grassroots level, and to bring the community together.
With a major final coming so soon after the national team enjoyed great success at UEFA EURO 2016 in France, coupled with a thriving grassroots game, Welsh football is in excellent health, something that Jonathan Ford believes is the result of a number of factors: "We set about making sure that we achieved our strategic plan, our objectives for football in Wales. It was not about the centenary, it was not about just a celebration. It was about how we ensure that we achieve the objectives of football in Wales, which are quite simple: Getting more people playing and playing to a higher standard."
"We are opening up the legacy pitch in Grange Gardens, a part of the community here in Cardiff that ultimately will have fantastic benefits.”