FORMER England and Newcastle striker Alan Shearer is to open a £2m football development in St Helens this Thursday.
Fives offers nine indoor five- and seven-a-side pitches on the site of a former glassworks in Ravenhead Road.
The development, by local property investor Peter Ainscough, can host community-based projects, sporting events and corporate events.
Mr Ainscough said: “The Fives development has been a catalyst for a diverse range of community-based initiatives from young people in the region taking up coaching training to skills training with youngsters with learning disabilities.
“We hope that it will offer young people in the area the chance to get involved in a constructive pastime that will keep them off the streets, and in turn, help to improve the surrounding community.”
St Helens council spokesman Bob Hepworth said: “This is a very exciting new facility for the youth and younger adults of the borough.”
