A smash hit night saw legendary coach Judy Murray cut the ribbon to officially open Irvine’s transformed tennis courts on Monday.

The mum of Grand Slam champions Andy and Jamie Murray was highly impressed with the Thornhouse Avenue facilities as around 100 people looked on.

This marked the latest stage on a major journey which saw local group Irvine Tennis Community take over the facility from North Ayrshire in a community asset transfer just over a year ago.

Irvine  Locality Partnership (ILP) successfully teamed up with Irvine Tennis Community (ITC) to secure £100,000 in community investment funding from North Ayrshire Council last summer to help fund the project.

Judy said: “Last time I was here the courts were red blaes and lines all over the place and they were really, really ropey.

"So it’s great to see what you have done here and it’s a fantastic job by everybody who was involved in bringing it up to what it is now. I’m a huge believer in the power of sport.

“A lot of work has been done and it’s taken an enormous amount of work by a lot of people within the local community, not least Chris McKenna to bring it up to this level. 

"From the turnout you will see there is a real need for it and there’s a real pride in everything that has been achieved here. 

“When the new pavilion goes up there will be a real sense of belonging. It’s not just about tennis but we have normal courts as well as pickleball courts, which can double up as mini tennis courts.”

After the opening honours, Judy played pickleball with local players and then attended a talk and signing session for her new tennis novel, The Wild Card.

Irvine Tennis Community chairman Chris McKenna is firmly focused on firmly establishing the facility but admits it would be amazing if someone at the club enjoyed national success.

He said:  “Having Judy here is fantastic and it’s a reward for all the hard work our team have put in. We are a charity and are trying to keep coaching free as much as possible, for kids and adults.

“It would be amazing if someone from Irvine ended up at Wimbledon. But the first thing is just to get people playing tennis.”

NAC depute leader Shaun Maculay helped champion the project.

He said: “This facility wasn’t being used and we had complaints about it. Chris and his committee have done hours and hours of work behind the scenes getting bids into different groups. You can see round about here the whole community is absolutely buzzing about tennis and that’s thanks to Irvine tennis community.”

Added leader Marie Burns: “health and wellbeing is one of our top priorities in the council and the pandemic showed us the importance of that. We are just so grateful at the council and although we transferred the asset over this we needed to do that as it’s all about the community. “

Baby Brody McPherson, aged just seven months, was the youngest visitor along with his dad Sam and grandmother Tracey Allan.

Sam said: “I’ve been here before playing and plan to come back. The club is great and we have enjoyed the opening. Hopefully Sam will play here one day.”

Pictures by Tommy Graham and Rowan McIntyre, TVAYRSHIRE media club volunteers.