THE late, great Wilf Mannion would approve of what has been done in his name.

A £1m sports and recreation complex has been opened just yards from the back lanes where the Boro's most capped player first dribbled a ball.

Flooding last year delayed plans for the Golden Boy Green development at Wilf's home town of South Bank, Middlesbrough.

Catherine Bain, one of Wilf's daughters, and his old Boro team mate George Hardwick, opened the complex yesterday - just weeks away from the first anniversary of the ex-player's death.

The complex, on the site of the old South Bank Football Club ground, in Normanby Road, includes an all-weather multi-sport pitch, a skate park, open-air 130-seater amphitheatre, crazy golf course and a community enterprise space.

Phil Pallent, chairman of the Golden Boy Green Committee, said: "This has been a day well worth waiting for. It's a fantastic project, built with, by and for the people of South Bank."