Joe Cole hailed the opening of a 'fantastic' new facility for grassroots football in east London as he unveiled Robert Clack School's new 3G pitch.
The West Ham United midfielder, who will leave the Club next month, cut a ribbon in tandem with the school's headteacher Sir Paul Grant to officially open the pitch. The facility will be a hub for football and becomes the first pitch of its kind in the Dagenham area.
The new pitch was made possible by a grant of £450,000 from the Premier League and FA Facilities Fund and Cole told West Ham TV it was pleasing to see money being well spent at grassroots level.
"It's great having these facilities for the players of east London where they'll be learning to produce the next stars for West Ham," said Cole, who came through the ranks at the Academy of Football to star for Club and country.
"With the connection of the Club to the community it's great all round.Obviously things get better and facilities get better as schools invest more in sport, which is great. It's very important for kids of all ages and abilities."
The superb surface at Robert Clack - which provides for the educational needs of players coming through the West Ham Academy - is already home to four local football clubs and is set to play host to many more in the coming months.
Joe Cole heads through a crowd of students toward the new facility
Headteacher Sir Paul is equally delighted that the new facility will play such a big role in the local community.
"If you actually get out on that facility you'll find it's like a billiard table, it is absolutely fantastic," he enthused. "Already there has been huge interest from clubs in the area to use the facilities. We're hoping that thousands of young people use that pitch and regenerate and revitalise football in the area."
Sir Paul was also delighted that the game's governing bodies had seen fit to invest money in the building of a pitch which he believes will help players follow Cole into the professional ranks.
"If you're like me and you want England to do well, then it all starts at this level. If you're like me as well you're always optimistic and think that we can be as good as anybody.
The new pitch will be a sporting hub for the people of Dagenham
"We need to bring more players through, boys and girls, because both forms of football are really very important. We need to increase participation and I think if you increase participation that will help to produce elite players as well."
The opening was attended by members of the Essex FA, Football Foundation, FA and West Ham United - with Cole's presence a subject of great excitement amongst the school's onlooking pupils.
"I think it was absolutely fantastic to see Joe Cole come down," said Sir Paul. "He is a London boy born and bred, a fantastic ambassador and you could see the young people here all knew who he was and it adds to the importance of the occasion.
"It makes them feel special, we have a special player, someone with a great history in the game, it makes you feel like, 'Yeah, maybe I could be as good as Joe Cole'."