Sheffield Olympic Legacy Stadium
Sheffield Olympic Legacy Park Community Stadium is a stadium under construction at the Sheffield Olympic Legacy Park. It occupies part of the site of the former Don Valley Stadium.
New Don Valley Stadium | |
| |
| Full name | Sheffield Olympic Legacy Park Community Stadium |
|---|---|
| Location | Attercliffe Road, Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England |
| Coordinates | 53.39596°N 1.4259°W |
| Public transit | Attercliffe Road/Sheffield Arena (Sheffield Supertram) |
| Owner | Sheffield City Council Sheffield Hallam University Legacy Park Ltd |
| Operator | Scarborough Group International |
| Capacity | 2,500 (expected to rise to 3,900) |
| Field size | 149 x 85 yards (pitch) |
| Surface | 3G synthetic pitch |
| Construction | |
| Built | 2021-2022 |
| Opened | 2022 |
| Construction cost | £10 million |
| Tenants | |
| Sheffield Eagles (2018-) Sheffield United W.F.C. (2018-2019) Sheffield Giants (2021-) | |
The Stadium is due for completion in February 2022 and will feature a three-storey, covered stand that will eventually have capacity for up to 3,900 spectators alongside 23,000 sq ft of business space and ancillary facilities.
As well as being available for business and community use, it will also become home to Sheffield Eagles Rugby League Football Club.
History
On 11 January 2013, Sheffield City Council announced that the Don Valley stadium was to be closed and demolished as part of a £50 million budget-cutting measure.[1] An eleventh hour meeting was held at Sheffield Town Hall on 1 March 2013. Local and national politicians met to discuss the proposed closure and any possibility of preventing it. A final decision was made that the stadium was to close in September 2013[2] and would be demolished from 21 November 2013.
In October 2014, it was announced that the Olympic Legacy Park would be constructed on the site of the old Don Valley Stadium.[3] It was to contain an Advanced Wellbeing Research Centre,[4] an indoor sports arena, a sports pitch and stadium to be home of the Sheffield Eagles, Oasis Academy and University Technical College (UTC). The college, which costed £10 million and is backed by Sheffield College and Sheffield Hallam University, opened in 2016.[5]
On 11 March 2018, the Sheffield Eagles finally made a long-awaited return to Sheffield, after spells playing in Doncaster, Rotherham and Wakefield. The first competitive sporting event played at the OLP ended in a 10-44 loss to the Toronto Wolfpack. This was after the scheduled first game against the London Broncos was postponed due to bad weather conditions.
They were joined later in the year by Sheffield United W.F.C. who played their first game at the stadium on 4 December 2018.[6] Although they changed their plans and moved to Chesterfield FC's Technique Stadium in 2019.
In 2021 American Football team Sheffield Giants also began playing their home games at the stadium.
Construction works started on the Community Stadium in February 2021 and are due to be completed in February 2022.
References
- "Sheffield Council cuts will lead to 'massive change'". BBC News. BBC. 11 January 2013. Retrieved 11 January 2013.
- "Jessica Ennis's Don Valley Stadium will close". BBC News. BBC. 1 March 2013. Retrieved 1 March 2013.
- http://www.thestar.co.uk/news/video-details-of-50million-olympic-legacy-park-for-former-don-valley-site-unveiled-1-6871174
- "Sheffield's Don Valley site gets £14m sports research pledge". BBC News. 19 March 2015.
- "£10m UTC college for Don Valley Stadium site". BBC News, Sheffield and South Yorkshire. 6 August 2014. Retrieved 12 December 2014.
- https://www.sufc.co.uk/women/news/2018/november/leicester-preview/ News of the move on the Sheffield United website