AN art project which saw an area of pine forest cleared to make way for a single day of football matches will leave a legacy for future generations, according to Scottish Secretary Michael Moore.
A £460,000 football pitch was created in the middle of woodland in the Scottish Borders to host a women's game and a men's game.
The so-called Forest Pitch, near Selkirk, was built by Edinburgh-based artist Craig Coulthard as part of artistic celebrations for the 2012 Olympics.
Speaking at a reception after the event, Michael Moore, MP for Berwickshire, Roxburgh and Selkirk said: "It was a great thing to be there, to see the young kids enjoying it, to see how our friends from all different parts of the world came together in a woodland in Selkirk – I think that was a very special thing."
The project, which also involves a film and a book, will see the temporary pitch transformed into a living sculpture later this year when the white lines are planted with a variety of native trees.
This will evolve into a "ghost" pitch which visitors can enjoy for up to 60 years to come.
The sculpture's mix of species will be in sharp contrast to the commercial spruce trees which are all around the pitch and will be a reminder of what the countryside was like in the past.
Mr Moore added: "What a fantastic few decades lie before us as we move from the sporting encounters of today, through the creation of this artwork in its many different phases over the decades ahead.
"A few months ago I stood there in the clearing where all the grass seed had begun to develop, and before the pitch furniture was created.
"Craig told me the story of how he had thought this through, of how it was a linking of cultural ideas and sporting ideas, how it was about new Scots having their identity fashioned by sporting culture and how, at this great moment in Scotland when we debate our future, we also reflect on what's happening around us in the sporting world, and cultural world, there was the chance to bring all that together in one moment."
Four teams made of a diverse group of men and women who had either recently become British citizens or had leave to remain in the UK since 2000 contested the matches.
Mr Coulthard said: "The Olympic Games, the Cultural Olympiad and the independence referendum have fused sport, the arts and politics in a very powerful and dynamic way."
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