An elaborate photo op was staged yesterday at the site of the new $800,000 national training facility, marking a ?very important moment for Bermuda football?.

Politicians and young footballers assembled for the media at Gym Field yesterday, soon to be home to a three-quarter size synthetic pitch and one day also the location for a Technical Centre.

The 50-year lease of Government land was officially handed over by the Premier to Bermuda Football Association president Larry Mussenden, paving the way for an investment of what could be up to $1m from world governing body FIFA, as part of their Goal project.

?This is an important moment for Bermuda football,? said Mussenden, who was keen to point out that the BFA had paid all 50 years? rent up front ? the whole nominal $50 of it.

?To have our own purpose-built facility is a big step forward and means there is all the access we need to a first-class facility for all our national senior and junior programmes as well as the women?s game.

?It has been the dream of FIFA that all its members have access to their own training facilities and we are very grateful to Government for the land to enable us to have that facility here.

?This field has a lot of potential and we are delighted that this lease has been signed and we can proceed with taking football to the next level.?

And Mussenden revealed that the synthetic pitch, a FIFA-approved surface which is a far cry from the old days of salty, sandy, skin-damaging astroturf, would be laid by the end of this domestic season.

Although the exact timescale is in the hands of the FIFA-approved contractors, Mussenden was confident the facility would be ready by as early as May.

The first $400,000 phase of the project will see fencing and upgraded lighting to be put in place alongside the synthetic three-quarter size pitch, which would require the cutting back of bushes and banking to accommodate it ? the option to upgrade the pitch to full size would remain an option, he added.

A second phase, also set to cost FIFA around $400,000, would see the erection of a Technical Centre, encompassing classrooms and training facilities although the timing for the that phase of the project remained very vague, with ?negotiations ongoing,? according to Mussenden.

Given the $11m cash injection to cricket following their World Cup qualification success, Scott was keen to point that the other national sport would not be left behind.

?The BFA and football have deserved this and have earned this,? he said, after the formal hand over of the lease.

?This will be a first-class facility that will enable our footballers, both now and in the future and in men?s and women?s football, to earn notable success on the international stage.

?The money for cricket, to a certain extent, is an incentive to other sports to achieve success. And I?m sure that football will some day soon achieve that level of success and the country will be able to give the same level of support as we have done for cricket.?

National coach Kyle Lightbourne, who has trained on similar synthetic surfaces at both Walsall and Cardiff, is also delighted that his headaches over scheduling training are over.

?It?s great for football that this is happening,? said Lightbourne, a former UK pro who took over the national coaching job more than a year ago.

?It has been in the pipeline for a long time now and I look forward to taking the sessions here.

?To have our own facility is very important and it means we can get on when we like and as often as we like without having to worry about costs or availability.

?These surfaces are pretty good and we will be able to do all the passing drills on it really well ? it can only help our game.?

As well as being available to all the national senior and youth programmes, the facility will still be available to CedarBridge and others who currently use the Field.