PLAYERS and pupils alike were in jubilant mood as they celebrated the

opening of a new changing hut.

The facilities at Lewes FC were opened this week by star players Rhian Cleverly and Katie Rood along with students from Lewes Old Grammar School (Logs).

The school funded the new hut and has a long history of working together with the football club.

It has been built next to Lewes FC’s 3G pitches which opened in 2015 as part of an £850,000 Fifa-accredited complex.

This multi-sports facility is nicknamed The Rookery in reference to the team’s nickname The Rooks.

The club said the new hut would make it quicker and easier to get changed before and after training.

These facilities are available to other organisations in the community.

Logs pupils Harry Westgate, Theo Light, Ruairi Lamont, Theo Ncube and Louis Anderson attended the opening.

The group was drenched with rain as they endured dreary conditions but it did not spoil the occasion.

Joined by Logs sports teacher Murray Heywood, they posed for photos with Rhian, who joined the club from Le Havre in the summer, and New Zealand international Katie, who is on loan from Bristol City.

The Rooks hit the headlines in 2017 when they became the first semi-professional or professional club in the world to pay its female team players the same as the men’s team and now coach girls at the Lewes school.

The club said it made the move because “we believe that there should be a level playing field for women in football” and this could “put an end to the excuses for why such a deep pay disparity has persisted in our sport”.

Female team members from the club have given talks at Logs assemblies on equal opportunities in football – and to inspire girls to get involved in the sport.

Logs head of GCSE PE Catherine Hyland, who has been playing football for 26 years and has played at county level for Essex and Sussex, started working at the school just over a year ago. She was tasked with encouraging more girls into the beautiful game.

She said she has seen huge progress being made and added that the school certainly has some potential stars of the future who are worth keeping an eye on.

She said: “All the girls at school now play football in PE.

“We have teams competing against other schools and I can see that there is real talent there.

“It’s about time that people realised that girls can be just as passionate and talented at this game as boys.”

Lewes FC praised the school for its work and said the site and all its facilities would be beneficial not just to the club but also to the school and other community groups.

The club’s director Charlie Dobres said: “We are extremely grateful for Logs’ support in having a shelter and changing room space right next to the 3G pitch.

“This can now be used by all of Lewes’s community groups and clubs who play on the 3G.

“We applaud the school’s commitment to expanding their girls’ football coaching.

“We see this as a really significant move to integrate this into the curriculum in schools as well as after school clubs.”