Members of Great Britain's 1988 Olympic gold medal team will be reunited at East Grinstead on Sunday.

The squad will be back together to mark the official opening of East Grinstead's impressive new water-based pitch at Saint Hill.

Among the stars of yesteryear on display will be Sean Kerly, Richard Leman, Steve Batchelor, Ian Taylor, Richard Dodds, Paul Barber, Imran Sherwani, Jon Potter, David Faulkner and Kulbir Bhuara.

It is nearly 15 years ago that Great Britain's hockey men captured the hearts of the public. Thousands of people with no previous interest in hockey were up at the crack of dawn to watch Britain beat Germany 3-1 in the final in Seoul to clinch the gold medal.

Six of that team - Leman, Kerly, Batchelor, Taylor, Potter and Robert Clift - played for East Grinstead at some stage in their careers.

On Sunday the team will play Holland's 1992 Olympic squad in a match sponsored by Titan Groups.

Leman, a Great Britain legend, was an East Grinstead player when he won gold in Seoul and he is now chairman of the East Grinstead Sports and Country Club, which encompasses the hockey club.

Leman said: "Everyone is looking forward to it. We have a reunion every five years where we make a conscious effort to get everyone back together.

"When you go through an experience like that it is like going through a war together. It is not just the Olympics, it is the four years building up to it.

"People still want to talk about 1988 even after all these years. It is one of those sporting moments that stick in people's minds. I am often meeting people who tell me they got up early to watch us.

"We were seeded two and no British team had been seeded that high before. We knew we had a chance but there were four or five teams who could have won it. It was all about performing on the day."

Leman is chairman of the development sub-committee who have worked tremendously hard for the last five years to make the new facility at Saint Hill a reality.

It all started when the club was successful in its bid to become the English Hockey Association's academy for the South East.

Leman said: "The establishment of the new centre is one of the positive changes introduced as a result of the English Hockey Association's Performance Plan. The concept was to establish a network of just ten academies across England, each providing world class support and development of junior and elite players.

"Our new water-based pitch is the only such facility available within a 30-mile radius of East Grinstead and is a priority facility for hockey."

The new facility, which also includes a fitness suite, physio treatment room, jogging track, changing facilities and improved office accommodation, has been financed by a Sport England lottery grant of more than £1million towards the total cost of £1.7million.

The official opening on Sunday will be conducted by Mike Corby, president of English Hockey who is a former Olympic hockey player and also a squash raquets international. The showpiece match will begin at 11.15am.

In league action this weekend, East Grinstead visit Hounslow and Ealing in National League division two on Sunday with Matt McNeill returning after illness. John Sullivan will start against his old club.