Late sports village has dates proposed

Scarborough Athletic fans will be delighted with the news that the construction of the Weaponess Sports Village is proposed to start at the end of next year.

The Sports Village will consist of a stadium for Scarborough Athletic as well as a national standard swimming pool.

Following the liquidation of Scarborough FC in 2007 and demolition of the old stadium, McCains Stadium, the town’s football fans have missed out on having a home team play in the seaside town.

The Shed, also known as The Cow Shed

Since Scarborough Athletic formed in in the same year, they’ve had to stadium share with Bridlington Town, leaving Boro fans no option but to travel to watch their team play.

The scheduled starting date of the sports village was August 2012, but due to money issues the construction was pushed back.

But following the final dialogue meeting with all the bidders for the sports village back on February 25, plans have been laid for the football stadium to be completed by the end of 2014.

Councillor Thomas Fox of the Scarborough Borough Council is anticipating “construction of the Leisure Village in early 2014 with completion of the football ground during Quarter 4 2014.

“We are excited to the prospect of not only senior football returning to Scarborough with the prospect that the facilities will help realise the realistic ambitions of a well-run team.”

For some Scarborough fans it’s all too little too late. Matthew Holloway, a fitness instructor and lifelong Scarborough FC fan said: “It just won’t happen, Scarborough football is dead and council won’t lift a finger to help.

“Building was scheduled to start in 2012, I believe it’s now 2013 and still nothing”

Other Scarborough fans still believe that the football team will return to the town very soon and “will be celebrating the day the first game Scarborough play there.”

Jack Fewster, a fellow Scarborough FC fan who is studying Sports Business Management at Sheffield Hallam, said: “The town needs a football team and Scarborough Athletic is the most senior team.”

Mr Fewster, 19, accepts that construction is currently behind schedule but believes “the day Scarborough Athletic get back, the club can finally prosper and regain its objective of being a community club.”

The Scarborough Athletic board are fully behind the project and have been quoted saying that they will “ensure that Scarborough Athletic Football Club returns to the Borough of Scarborough in facilities that benefit the wider sporting community.”

Scarborough Athletic 5 Nostell Miners Welfare 0

Scarborough Athletic remain top of the NCEL Premier Division with a comfortable win over Nostell Miners Welfare.

The Welfare failed to deal with Denny Ingram’s long throw-in from the right and when the ball landed at the feet of Ryan Blott just a couple of yards from goal, Athletic’s top scorer made no mistake.

A sweeping crossfield move saw the ball switched from right to left into the path of Paddy Miller who made the most of the space afforded to him, powering towards the corner of the Nostell area before smashing the ball across Denton and into the back of the visitors’ net.

Funk was forced to shuffle his pack with James Bennett entering the fray to replace Matty Plummer who limped off with a thigh problem, but the re-organisation didn’t seem to affect Athletic as they made it 3-0 half way through the first period.

Mitchell Pearson took far too long in attempting to clear Paddy Miller’s cross from the left and Jimmy Beadle nipped in to steal the ball and plant it past Denton for his sixth goal in his last six outings.

All this happened within the first half.

Athletic’s fourth arrived just seven minutes into the second half when Tony Hackworth’s clever diagonal pass released Hawkes who pulled the ball back across the face of goal for Bennett who could not miss from barely a yard out.

The hosts began to create more chances as the game became stretched and Hawkes fired narrowly over before Hackworth eventually notched the fifth of the afternoon in the 74th minute.

Athlectic have now scored an impressive 34 goals in their last seven home NCEL fixtures, a run of victories in which they have conceded just three times.