Saturday marked the official opening of the brand new Bolton Wanderers Eddie Davies Football Academy.
The multi-million pound complex in Lostock was unveiled by the Mayor and Mayoress of Bolton, Cllr Anthony Connell and his wife Maureen ahead of the Barclays Premier League contest between Bolton and Blackburn at the Reebok Stadium.
Owner Eddie Davies was present whilst Club Chairman Phil Gartside was also in attendance along with his opposite number from Blackburn John Williams.
The 40-acre complex, which features four full-size grass pitches, a 3G artificial playing surface, changing facilities and physio room has been in use since the summer months.
And with further developments still to be completed, the state-of-the-art complex will rank amongst the finest in the country once complete.
At the opening, Phil Gartside delivered a rousing speech, in which he thanked owner Eddie Davies for his continued investment in Bolton Wanderers and hailed Blackburn Rovers' Academy as the benchmark for the club to aspire to.
The Chairman said: "Special thanks must go Eddie for his financial support to the club over the last ten years as without it, not only would we be without this fantastic facility, but we probably wouldn't exist.
"The town council have been tremendously supportive in helping us build this facility with the provisions of the land and the appropriate permissions to make this happen.
"It was actually nine years ago when I was invited to view the magnificent facilties that Blackburn built for their own youth development. They set the standards, and albeit that we've gone a long way towards matching that; we've still got a long way to go.
"There are also striking similarities between the two famous Lancashire clubs over the years. We are both founder members of the football league, we've both got a long history of connections to the local towns and more importantly local people.
"We have a tradition of local talent representing our local teams, with Bryan Douglas and Nat Lofthouse springing to mind.
"The provision of our own facilities are long overdue and at last we can look forward to developing our own talent in our own facility."
