OFFICIALS at Kelty Hearts believe that they could bring international football to the village as they prepare to officially open the revamped Central Park.

The Fife Jambos will go head-to-head with those from the capital on Tuesday night when Heart of Midlothian visit for a glamour friendly that will celebrate work done to turn Kelty’s home into a facility “for the community”.

A 4G pitch, which was installed in October as part of the £7.3 million Kelty Community Centre project and is used by youth teams, Kelty Primary School and members of the public, and the creation of two covered enclosures are at the heart of the redevelopment that Kelty believe sets them apart from other junior football clubs.

Club treasurer George McTrusty said: “We were asked by Fife Council if we could put the all-weather park on ours; it is for the community and we did it for the good of the village. We’ve held talks with Dunfermline over their under-20s playing there and we’ve got 120-130 kids, who used to be Marian Colts but are now Kelty Hearts Colts, using it as well.

“We’ve built two new stands and we’re hoping to put seats into one. It’s a long-term plan that helps spectators; they are accessible for disabled people and I believe we’ve got the best facilities in junior football. In the future we will hopefully host (junior) international games there.

“There’s also a lot of kids who come to our games and we’ve got a lot of ground at the top right-hand side, so we’ve agreed with Allsports – who laid the park – to get us some of Alloa’s old surface and build an area to let them play in safety.”

While things are looking up off the park, on it Kelty have kicked off their pre-season preparations and will play host to a summer tournament this weekend, with teams from Dunfermline, Cowdenbeath and Dundonald Bluebell taking part in the two-day event.

It will provide a useful workout for the 2015 Super League champions and boss Thomas Courts, and McTrusty added: “We’re looking forward to some big games and we want to win the Super League again.

“Thomas has done a fantastic job; we had a reasonable season last year and is attracting good players, which speaks for itself. I’m sure he has one or two irons in the fire but we’d love to to try and win the Scottish Cup this year. That is the holy grail.”

On Saturday, two games will be played in the opening day of the Kelty tournament, with Dunfermline facing Dundonald at 12pm before Kelty tackle Cowdenbeath at 3.30pm. A third/fourth place play-off and the final will then be played at 12pm and 3.30pm respectively on Sunday.

The game with a Hearts XI on Tuesday, which kicks off at 7.30pm, will be preceded by the official opening of the ground by Mid Scotland and Fife MSP, Lochs Councillor Alex Campbell; former Hearts and Scotland boss Craig Levein and Provost Jim Leishman.

Entertainment will be provided by Kelty Pipe Band and admission is £6 for adults and £3 for OAPs and under-16s.

The club thanked Fife Council, Allsports, Conservatory Converters, Adaptable Steel Buildings, Block Build, Mr Rowley and Councillor Campbell for their “hard work in the revamp of the ground”.