Stocksbridge all-weather football pitch plan set to move closer to its goal
Funding totalling £750,000 is being finalised for a new all-weather football pitch in Stocksbridge.
The 3G artificial pitch at Stocksbridge Park Steels Football Club on Bracken Moor Lane, Bracken Moor is being funded as part of the government’s Stocksbridge Towns Fund improvement scheme for the steel town on the edge of Sheffield.
The pitch will be used by the Stocksbridge Park Steels FC junior and senior teams, plus Stocksbridge High School and community groups.
Sheffield City Council holds the money on behalf of the Stocksbridge Towns Fund Board, who are overseeing the regeneration plans.
A meeting of the city council finance and performance policy committee next Monday (June 15) will decide on releasing the remaining £710,600 of the budget as a grant to the football club. The funding must be spent by March 2028 and the project is due to start this summer and be completed in a year’s time.
A planning application has also been submitted to the city council. As well as the new pitch, this includes building a new clubhouse with accessible toilets, changing facilities and a bar area, plus perimeter fencing and floodlights.
A report to the finance committee says: “Stocksbridge currently lacks a high-quality, all-weather football facility, limiting year-round access to sport.
Participation
“Existing provision restricts participation from key groups, including junior players, women and girls, and people with disabilities or long-term health conditions.
“There is insufficient local capacity to support structured football development, coaching and community use.”
Many youth and adult football teams currently have to travel outside Stocksbridge for training sessions and matches during periods of poor weather when grass pitches become unplayable.
The report says that the project will be community-led, allowing the club to use local contractors, volunteers and additional funding sources to maximise value for money.
Club chairman Graham Furness said last week: “Getting to this stage has taken a huge amount of work from everyone involved and we are pleased to see the planning application now submitted.
“The demand for an all-weather facility in Stocksbridge is clear. Local teams regularly lose training and playing time during the winter months and this development will make a massive difference for players, coaches, schools and community groups across the area.
Important
“We look forward to progressing the project further once planning approval has been secured.”
Graham Silverwood, the Stocksbridge Towns Fund Board member responsible for sports projects, said: “This is a really important step forward for a project that the community has wanted for many years.
“The work to make sure the site is suitable has been complex, but it means we are now in a position to move ahead with delivering a modern all-weather facility that will benefit local people of all ages.”
The finance committee will also be asked to remove the budget of £330,600 for a High Street Accessibility scheme from the capital budget following a decision by the Towns Fund Board.
A report to the committee says that the original remit of the project was improving the car and cycle parks around Manchester Road, upgrading them and improving the links for pedestrians around Stocksbridge high street. Tis included better pedestrian links between Fox Valley and the Manchester Road area.
However, the budget has now been diverted to cover the increased cost of delivering the overall scheme for Stocksbridge.