SOUTHAMPTON'S mayor, councillor Dennis Harryman, has promised to do everything in his power to provide better facilities for the city's newest athletics club.

Hosting a reception to launch Team Southampton at the Civic Centre, councillor Harryman acknowledged the need for a facelift at Southampton Sports Centre and vowed: "Anything I can do to get that improvement, I will."

Born of a union between the Team Solent and Southampton City clubs, Team Southampton plan to revive the golden days of Southampton athletics when stars like Roger Black, Kriss Akabusi and Iwan Thomas rolled off its glittering conveyor belt.

By combining the city's top two clubs, they will not only get quality male and female athletes in every age-group, but will pool the precious coaches and volunteers who dedicate so much of their valuable time to the sport.

Top sprint coach Mike Smith, who will chair the new club in its first year, welcomed the merger as a real way forward, saying: "One strong, central club will be a massive advantage and we hope to go a long way."

But as one of the most vociferous critics of the Sports Centre, Smith added that Team Southampton would need all the help they could get from the council to get facilities up to scratch.

He said: "Both clubs have been fighting for years and years to get improvements at the Sports Centre. The changing facilities, to put it mildly, are appalling. At trackside there are Portakabins which we (the club) have provided and which other clubs use freely.

"I hope this merger will help convince people there is a need to go forward. In the past we've had many good athletes in Southampton and this is what we want to achieve again."

Angus Maclean, one of Team Southampton's brightest, young stars, said the athletes were all behind the merger.

The 1500m specialist declared: "It's just what we wanted. Success breeds success and the new club will attract more and more people - and, dare I say, other Southampton clubs will possibly get involved in future mergers!"

Christine Benning, the AAA of England regional development officer, commented: "We want to build a club that young people want to join because it's successful and because they get excellent coaching.

"We want to compete at the highest level we can and have a club where coaches are valued and supported.

"We will need better facilities at the track too and if we can get this support we can be a club the city can truly be proud of."