A POPULAR Swindon sports venue has been given a £230,000 high tech makeover.

The Futsal Arena in Kembrey Park has moved into the digital age with three new 3G pitches and state-of-the-art audio visual facilities.

Taken over late last year by PlayFootball, the venue reopened earlier this month and has undergone a complete facelift with improved changing facilities, a new bar, a revamped café area and a new sound system and TV so visitors can watch live play.

General manager Olly Ballinger said reaction to the improvements and new 3G artificial grass pitches had been encouraging since they were unveiled at the re-launch.

“It is a much nicer place to play and to work,” he said.

He explained: “The brilliance of it is the technology allows the ball to bounce and roll like it would on normal grass.”

But while most 3G pitches are green or based on sand, the arena’s smart new pitches are black.

He said the feedback had been very positive. “People like that the 3G is a little softer on the knees for the older generation.”

The pitches were also enclosed with boarding and netting, which means the ball stays in play all the time.

PlayFootball took over the Swindon arena along with another larger centre in Birmingham.

Barry Hunter, chief executive of Play Football said: “These acquisitions are excellent additions to our smaller sided football estate. Geographically this gives us a West Midlands presence and along the M4 corridor.

“Futsal is fully embraced by the FA Football League Trust and the Premier League as a key component of education and football development programmes.”

The arena is home to several five-a-side leagues catering for adults and children of varying abilities. It also hosts a walking football league for people with limited mobility along with Zorb football and coaching camps.

Futsal, which was played by football’s big names like Pele, Ronaldinho and Fabregas in their youth, is a similar five-a-side fame played with a smaller ball and hockey-sized goals.

During the summer holidays the arena is running freestyle football training sessions with the FA on Tuesdays and Thursdays between 4pm and 6pm. The sessions offer children the chance to have extra coaching to hone their footballing skills.