Plans to build a state-of-the-art artificial pitch at a Kent football club will give them facilities to rival those of the England national team, bosses believe.

The proposal to build a 3G pitch at Faversham Town FC’s Salters Lane ground comes after years of flirting with the idea.

Chairman Gary Smart confirmed the club’s intentions and says he hopes to see the community get behind the idea.

“Over the past nine years, there’s been talk of the club having a 3G pitch,” he said.

“There have been so many promises made over that time, yet it’s never quite come to the stage of getting it done.

“The 3G pitch is modelled on England’s training base, St George’s Park, with a special shock absorber under the carpet to help prevent injuries, allowing us to have disabled and veterans football on the ground.

“We’ll be the only club in the country with facilities like this, and it feels fitting for the club with three lions on the shirt to have a ground similar to England’s.

“We’re hoping to get this done over the summer and get the work started in the second week of May, subject to planning permission.”

While rival clubs Whitstable Town FC and Herne Bay FC have recently installed artificial pitches, it is the shock absorber technology that sets Faversham’s plans apart.

The proposals, which would cost in the region of £750,000, come as the club prepares to launch their post-16 education and football academy programme.

They currently groundshare with Faversham Strike Force and say that with two to three games on the pitch a week as it is, the youth project would be impossible to proceed with.

Mr Smart, who also runs a print management supply company, believes the club’s decision to commit a significant amount of money to the project shows their faith in the plans.

“We’re looking at £750,000 for the project - funding is coming in from the directors and a few grants to help provide £250,000 worth,” began the 52-year-old.

“This isn’t a one-and-done type of deal; we’ll have to resurface the surface in eight or so years for another £200,000.

“The fact we’re willing to put that amount of money into it, it shows how important this is to us. It’s of paramount importance to the club.

“We want an academy, a youth policy in the club, for 16-year-olds, plus with educational purposes, but we can’t do that on the pitch that is currently down.”

'We’re really trying to prioritise local footballers first...'

With the first team currently training at the Lenham School and youth teams training on various pitches in Swale, the club hopes the 3G pitch can help bring all their teams, including the new academy, under one roof.

Speaking about the education and academy programme, the chairman was positive about the implementation of the idea and promised to build the core of the team from local players.

He said: “With the post-16 academy, we’ve got trial dates set out, we’re hoping to appeal to the local footballers, we want to compete with clubs like Dover Athletic who train at the Abbey School.

“We want to show people where the club is going, with our pitch, stadium redevelopment programme and our youth roadmap, to really reinforce the idea that this is the best place to be.

“We’re really trying to prioritise local footballers first; we want to get the nucleus of the youth project from the town.

“With this, we can have 45 hours a week of guaranteed football, which is extraordinary, and it will help boost our educational programme.”

The club hopes to hear back from Swale Borough Council by April 6.

The plans can be seen via the council’s planning portal, using reference 23/500536/FULL.