Featured image credit: Durham Women’s FC
Durham Cricket has announced that it is working alongside Durham Women’s FC to pursue a new facility dedicated to elite women’s football and cricket.
The “state-of-the-art” facility would also be used for community sports and is designed to help the North East stake a claim to be the UK’s first “Region of Sport”.
Durham Cricket and Durham Women’s FC, which plays in the second-tier Championship, have collaborated on proposals to create a high-performance centre for women’s football.
This would include what is claimed to be the UK’s first new stadium designed around the needs of the female athlete and fan. The clubs have wider ambitions to create a women’s sports hub at the Chester-le-Street Riverside Complex.
Durham Women’s FC plays its home matches at Durham University’s Maiden Castle sports centre.
Durham Women’s FC is currently fourth in the Championship. The planned new hub at the Riverside Complex would serve as a base for the club, with facilities for day-to-day training, a performance centre, administration offices, and facilities for male and female grassroots sport.
The club is one of only two women’s teams in the UK which is independently owned and not affiliated with a men’s team. The new development would create a link with Durham Cricket, which was recently granted a Tier 1 professional women’s team.
The plans also include a proposed 150-room hotel (pictured) as part of the overall strategy for the site. Durham Cricket stressed that the plans for the complex are in the early stages, with several options currently being developed before proposals are finalised.
Lee Sanders, director at Durham Women’s FC, said: “This is a fantastic prospect to create a women’s sports hub for Chester-le-Street and the wider region. Proposals for the site would allow for a new state-of-the-art facility specifically for women’s football and wider women’s sport, making it the first of its kind in the UK.
“The different options for the site will allow the complex to be multi-purpose, supporting Durham Women’s FC but also local girls and boys football clubs, athletics clubs, international cricket, as well as recreational space for the public and additional parking.
“Between all stakeholders, this will be a high-capital project including private and commercial investment. This will in turn create jobs in construction, leisure and hospitality benefitting the people of Chester-le-Street and the wider area.”
Tim Bostock, chief executive of Durham Cricket, added: “We have fantastic women’s teams for both football and cricket in Durham, competing at elite professional levels. Creating this development to support women’s training will not only help these teams continue to achieve great things, but it also opens opportunities for more women and girls to get involved in football and cricket, sport, and the wider sporting event industry.”
Plans are also in the works for a dedicated stadium for Brighton & Hove Albion’s Women’s Super League (WSL) team. The local council put forward a motion for the purpose-built stadium back in October 2023.
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