A new £1m state-of-the-art 3G football training facility kicked off in style at Accrington and Rossendale College with a celebrity football match.

Hundreds of spectators watched as former Scotland International and Blackburn Rovers legend Kevin Gallagher and Accrington Stanley manager John Coleman found the net in a penalty shootout to officially open the facility.

An array of other legends graced the pitch in an Accross XI including ex Manchester City player Asa Hartford and ex Liverpool and Galatasaray star Mike Marsh.

Current Accross Academy players Tom Anderton, Lee Carruthers, Ryan Hallworth, Jack Aldred and Luke Hartley also played in the Accross side who went on to win 2-0 against a Puma XI captained by Gallagher.

After the game the players repaid the visiting spectators with an impromptu autograph signing followed by a charity dinner at the Dunkenhalgh Hotel in Accrington which helped raise funds for Marie Curie Cancer Care.

Mark Fell, head of the College’s sports department, said: "We are thrilled to have launched our pitch with such an exciting match and it was brilliant to see so many professional and ex-professional players supporting football at this level.

"The real star of the day, however, was the pitch which was fantastic to play on.

"All our academy players look forward to training and playing on it and it's a fantastic facility for the entire area."

The new pitch measures 100m by 63m to FIFA one-star standards and is complete with fencing and floodlights.

It has been installed onto an engineered base and uses a Desso surface which is composed of natural grass and artificial and is similar to that used by some of Europe’s top clubs including Real Madrid and Tottenham Hotspur.