Hollands & Blair entertain Deal Town in the Southern Counties East Premier Division for their first match on the new 3G pitch at Star Meadow

It’s a homecoming weekend for Hollands & Blair.

The Southern Counties East side will be hosting a match on the new 3G pitch at Star Meadow for the first time when they take on Deal Town.

It’s a big day for the team and a huge moment for the club, says chairman Paul Piggott, having also agreed a 10-year lease with the ground’s owners before the end of 2022.

“It's just a massive opportunity for the football club to now kick on and progress,” said Mr Piggott.

“It is almost like moving to a new ground - although it is our home and we have always classed it as our home - but what the owners have done and the investment they have made in the place, the turnaround has been massive, not just the football pitch itself but the surroundings around the pitch, it is great.

“I love the place anyway but people now want to be there, all of our kids are up there training, kids playing on it, it just brings a hub for the club, it is great going forward and is only going to help the football club massively.

“(A new lease) was massive for us. From day one the new owners (Invictus Sports Group) said we were part of the long-term and they have given us a 10-year lease, sticking by their word, which is brilliant for us. We haven’t got to worry about that for the next 10 years now and we can build our future with our youth football playing here.”

Blair will be sharing the pitch facilities with Soccer Elite FA and Mr Piggott is thrilled that they now have a place that the whole club can call home, bringing in their youth teams to train and play at Star Meadow.

Mr Piggott said: “Last Saturday we had four of our youth teams playing all at one time, as a chairman standing and watching it was brilliant.

“Three quarters of the mums and dads and kids