THE brand new pitches in Mountblow opened to the public this week and the news has been welcomed by a junior football team.

On Monday, West Dunbartonshire Leisure announced that work had been completed and the sports facilities are now ready to use.

In February 2017, the site was earmarked for an £850,000 overhaul, including the pavilion.

There are three seven-a-side pitches and one 11-a-side pitch made suitable for all weathers.

The pavilion includes six changing rooms on the ground floor and six on the top floor, with facilities upstairs suitable for male and female teams.

Clydebank Mercury Football Club 2007s coach Barry McColgan and chairman Richard Upson said they are excited to be playing on the new surface on Saturday.

Barry told the Post: “With facilities being difficult to get hold of due to the weather conditions recently, I am sure I speak for all teams in our area when I say everyone has been patiently waiting for the ‘recky’ pitches to re-open as it does have two pitches - one grass and one synthetic.

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“Now that the pitches are open, it will undoubtedly give more teams in the area the opportunity to train and have more games on than off.”

Residents were keen to see the pavilion building be restored.

It was originally constructed in 1937 and was granted C-listed building status in 2018.

In July 2019, West Dunbartonshire Council (WDC) told how CCTV was set to be installed to prevent vandalism at the facilities.

A WDC spokeswoman said: “The pavilion opened its doors on Monday.

“We look forward to welcoming groups and individuals in to enjoy our state-of-the-art 3G pitches and facility.”