The pitch is part of the new £6.2m William Fosters Hub in Ince, a short distance from Ella’s hometown of Tyldesley, and is due to open this summer. The site, which will include two full-size 3G football turf pitches (FTPs) as well as a changing pavilion with a community café and social space, was made possible by a £3.7m grant from the Football Foundation and £2.5m in funding from Wigan Council.

The Ella Toone Pitch is one of 23 Football Foundation-funded pitches that will be named after each of the Lionesses to honour their UEFA Women’s EUROs victory last summer and inspire the next generation of women and girls to get involved in the game.

The Lioness legacy pitches form a key part of the Football Foundation’s HERe to Play campaign, which celebrates the charity’s commitment to delivering facilities that provide equal access to women and girls playing football across the country. The campaign launched earlier this year with the opening of the Jill Scott Pitch in Jarrow, named after Ella’s former Lioness teammate.

 “It feels just like yesterday that I was a kid kicking a ball around just a few miles from here but already so much has changed in the women’s game. It’s so exciting to see more and more women and girls wanting to play football and the amazing new facilities here will allow them to do just that,” says Toone.

“As a Lioness I feel a responsibility to be a role model for the next generation and it’s such an honour to do that with a pitch named after me in my hometown. I’m so grateful to the Football Foundation for the opportunity to inspire local girls to fall in love with the game just like I did.”

Alongside the William Fosters Hub, the Football Foundation has also invested £3.9m into an additional Hub at Laithwaite Park in Wigan, contributing to a total £12.7m investment into transforming grassroots sport in the area. The two sites will provide thousands of local children, young people, adults and elderly residents with access to state-of-the-art grassroots sports facilities.

“The two hubs will have a huge impact in our communities and we can’t wait for the opening dates. Working alongside our community partners such as Wigan Athletic Community Trust and Lancashire FA, the two sites will help us to harness the power of grassroots sport for the benefit of residents of all ages,” said councillor Nazia Rehman, cabinet member for resources, finance and transformation at Wigan Council.