The former Ibrox and Scotland striker was at the Alastair McCoist complex in East Kilbride for the official opening ceremony.

The centre, which opened to the public last spring, was built on the site of the former St Andrew’s High School in the town.

After unveiling the official plaque of the complex yesterday, McCoist spoke of his memories of playing football in East Kilbride as a youngster.

He said: “I started playing here when I was nine and I can’t tell you how special those days were to me and a lot of my pals.

“It was a wonderful part of my life. I remember it like it was yesterday. Sometimes it would be absolutely freezing but the main thing you remember was the sport itself and running about playing with your pals.”

The 47-year-old hopes the centre can encourage children to use their foot on a ball a bit more rather than their thumbs on a games console.

“The biggest thing I would hope for this place would be to get the kids away from the Play­Stations, Gameboys and TVs and get them playing sports.”

He admitted achieving that is not going to be easy.

“I’ve got five boys myself and it’s a problem. If I didn’t get them outside they would sit and play their PlayStations. It’s the way society is, it’s the way they are.”

The centre has an eight court games hall, a new community room and outdoor third generation synthetic five-a-side football pitch.

There are also regular clubs for handball, basketball, badminton, table tennis and martial arts.

The focus this year will be to increase day-time classes aimed at pre-school children and their parents.

South Lanarkshire Council’s Jim Docherty said he was happy to have McCoist’s name in lights at the centre.

“We are delighted to welcome Ally here today to officially open the Alistair McCoist Complex, named in his honour as a great ambassador for Scottish football and one of East Kilbride’s local heroes,” he said.

“The complex greatly enhances the leisure facilities for the town of East Kilbride and this £3.5m investment has presented a fantastic opportunity for local residents to enjoy many sports within this multifunctional sports hall.”