World Cup hat-trick hero Sir Geoff Hurst thinks children should be playing sport as soon as they get out of nappies.

Sir Geoff was the guest of honour at the opening of the newly refurbished Strood Sports Centre today - shortly before the 50th anniversary of England’s famous victory in 1966.

To celebrate the landmark, centre owner Medway Council invited him to attend a football tournament featuring the top 16 primary schools from the Mini Youth Games, who represented the 16 nations who took part in 1966.

Sir Geoff said: “I’m a big advocate of kids playing sport, all sports. The great thing about the sport is that it’s a team sport, at the top level, having successfully won something is fantastic to be part of a team doing that.

“The teamwork these kids are doing will grow up and remember the people they play in the school photographs for a long, long time, maybe forever.

“As soon as kids are out of nappies get them kicking a ball around.

“I do that with my grandchildren, the youngest one is 10, as soon as he was jokingly out of a nappy, I used to walk him down the shops.

"We go round to my daughter’s house before he went to school and walk him around, we do that with my granddaughter who is now seven.

"So I’m a really strong advocator of exercise for kids."

The council has spent £1.9 million renovating the centre and Medway Council are looking to continue the growth of sport activity in the community with their Sporting Legacy Strategy which aims to improve facilities throughout the Towns in the four years running up to the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games.

'As soon as kids are out of nappies get them kicking a ball around.' - Sir Geoff

The plans will result in Medway Park becoming the official home of the England Wheelchair Rugby League by ensuring the facilities are on par with the best in the country, as well as continuing to host top level events across a range of sports.

New public events will also be introduced through the initiative, including a mass buggy push and mass workout.

Sir Geoff also said he thinks Sam Allardyce should be appointed as the next England manager.

He said that England's performance in the Euros was "bitterly disappointing".

"I think Sam Allardyce has been mentioned, I think it would be a good appointment.

"He’s very experienced, he’s English, and I think we should have an English manager, I did change my mind on that, I didn’t think so a few years ago. He’s very successful and he gets results."