GILLINGHAM manager Neale Cooper will open the new £1.5 million synthetic pitch complex at the University of Kent on Sunday.

Other guests are set to include Gillingham players Andrew Crofts, Danny Spiller and Jonathan Wallis, Reading's Leroy Lita and Jon Harley of Burnley, all of whom started out in the game by training at the university's sports centre.

Cooper will kick the first ball on the pitches, on the Canterbury campus, at 2pm.

Mike Wilkins, director of the sports centre, said: "We are delighted that Neale Cooper and all of the players have taken time out to open this fantastic new addition to our existing facilities.

"As with the Sports Centre and café, the public are more than welcome to use the new pitches; indeed we are very proud that the University of Kent is probably the major provider of sport for the community in Kent."

The complex includes a full size football pitch, four 5-a-side pitches, a multi-purpose sand-based astro-turf pitch, refurbished tennis and netball courts and floodlighting, seating and fencing.