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FCUM REVEALS LOCATION OF PROPOSED STADIUM |
FC United of Manchester has announced plans to develop a football ground in Newton Heath, Manchester - the birthplace of Manchester United.
The supporter-owned club, established when the Glazer family took over Manchester United in May 2005, is proposing to include new and renovated community sports facilities and a multi-function community space at the 5,000-capacity stadium.
The club wants to provide state of the art facilities that will create new investment in the area and opportunities for local people in sports participation and physical activity, youth inclusion, education, health, employment and a range of other services.
The site for the development is the existing Ten Acres Lane sports centre, which is owned by Manchester City Council.
FC United, New East Manchester and Manchester City Council have been working closely over the past two years to develop the plans and consultation will now progress with local residents, community groups and FC United members who own the club.
FC United is working to secure the finance for the £3.5m development, which will include a public appeal for donations, a Community Shares issue and grant funding.
Club General Manager Andy Walsh said: “The announcement will be a big boost to the club and we also want the development to be of benefit to Newton Heath, the discussions with the council have been very positive and we are grateful for their support. The significance of this location is historical while it will also showcase a new model of facility development, based on football supporter ownership and community involvement.”
Manchester City Council’s Executive Member for Culture and Leisure, Cllr Mike Amesbury, said: “We have been supportive of this development to date and we are pleased to now take it to the next stage. While there is a way to go yet we feel that this will have significant local community benefits and bring an iconic supporter-owned club to Manchester.”
Eddie Smith, chief executive of urban regeneration company New East Manchester said: "We are working closely with FC United to help achieve their aspirations of acquiring land in Newton Heath for a new football ground. This is still very early stages but we are supportive of their proposals which would bring further regeneration benefits to east Manchester."
FC United hopes the development will be completed in the next two to three years, subject to consultation, funding and planning.
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Chantal helps her team through to the semi-finals |
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Chantal, one of our regular ball girls, and good football player herself, plays football for her school (Altrincham Grammar School for Girls.) Last Monday Chantal's team played Sale Grammar in a quater final. Chantal was in nets for the second half of the match. Altrincham Grammar beat sale 6-0 (Chantal has obviously been learning from Sam Ashton while she has been doing her ballgirl duties) and are now through to the semi-final of the Trafford tournament (girls) Well done to Chantal and the rest of the girls. Good luck from all of us for the semi-final. |
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We would like to thank the junior members who sent in ideas for the new junior birthday card. The winning design, created by Martin Pearson and chosen by Sam Ashton from the entries submitted, is currently being printed. Well done, Martin. |
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Martin Raises More Money For Our New Ground. |
Martin Pearson has raised yet more money for the FC development fund by doing a sponsored swim in the freezing Serpentine on New Years Day. When Martin has collected all the money in for this latest venture, he will have raised a total of £810.65p towards our new ground, a fantastic effort. Well done!
Here is Martin's account of the day he froze for the FC cause.My Sponsored Swim
It was 1st January and while you were all tucking in to your left over turkey, the sun was shining over the Serpentine at around 12 noon and it actually felt quite warm. As we made our way towards the changing facilities (behind the bushes) a small crowd gathered, mainly local people with cameras. When we emerged from behind the bushes a larger crowd seemed to have gathered and it grew and grew until we were surrounded by bemused onlookers. We had already seen the signs warning of surface ice on the lake but didn’t take much notice. I did make quite an entrance by sliding down the ramp into the freezing water and made a splash. I thought about getting out but then I said to myself, "I’m already in, what’s the point of getting out?", so I carried on and did my two lengths. I cannot forget when mum (who also did the swim) decided to do four lengths (BIG HEAD) and came out with hypothermia; but we have defrosted her and she is ok. On our way out of the water we got such a cheer from the crowd I thought we had won the World Cup!
When all the money is collected in I should have raised around £382.00.
Many thanks to all who supported me
Martin Pearson
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ALEX BRINGS HOME THE MEDALS. |
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Recently Alex Croft was involved in a wheelchair dance competition. Here is dad Les’s very proud, and funny, account of the competition; "We were approached in September 2008 by Lancasterian School to see if we were interested in Alex joining their power wheelchair dancing team. Apparently not only would it be fun but it would help his wheelchair skills. For the sake of our skirting boards and door frames we jumped at the chance!
Every Friday afternoon Alex was taken from his primary school and transported to Lancasterian School on Elizabeth Slinger Road in West Didsbury. Alex's training started in October 2008 and up until April of this year we knew nothing more apart from that every Friday afternoon after school we had to pick his wheelchair up from West Didsbury. In April the team preformed for the first time in front of the public. Everything went well until the Hocky Cokey, when everybody went in together, and it was carnage because nobody could get back out again due to bits of machinery being attached to other bits of machinery!
In September Alex moved from primary school to the high school department of Lancasterian, and training was turned up a notch in preparation for the national dancing championships in Glasgow on the 8 November. Most people will know that Alex likes his football, and if he's not pretending to be Mr Nugent or Mr Chadwick he's pretending to be Giggs on the playground with a large wheelchair football. However, all this was given up for extra practice! We'd never known Alex to take anything so seriously.
It was decided the trip to Glasgow would be school only to trip give the kids some independence, so we turned up at Lancasterian on the 7 November with a packed bag and packed lunch. A teary goodbye and good lucks were exchanged and the team set off. Unfortunately they only managed to make it to Thunderbird Services near Lancaster before one of the mini buses broke down. Spirits weren't dampened and the team decided to put a dance show on for all the customers of the services. Eventually 9 hours after they set off, the team turned up at the hotel.
I'd like to tell you what happened during the dance competition but as we weren't there we can only give you the outcome! The Lancasterian team won 12 gold medals, 7 silver medals, 2 bronze medals and the Ballroom Shields in category A and C, the Novelty Team Dance Shield and The Manual Freestyle Shield. We ere very pleased and proud when we were informed Alex had won a silver medal in the ballroom and freestyle dancing, and was part of the freestyle team which became national champions!
In true Mancunian style the Lancasterian team was the last people partying on the dance floor, and they were eventually told to leave the dance floor at 1.00am! Thankfully the return journey was not as eventful as the trip there."
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This is Jacob, one of our newest recruits of FC Junior's who volunteer each home match for ballboy/girl duty. These boys and girls are a hardy bunch of juniors who turn out come wind, rain or shine. They are a very much appreciated group, who help the players keep the match flowing smoothly. We would like to add to the group of ballboy/girls who attend games both on Saturday’s and weekdays. You will need to be at least 8 years old and able to concentrate for the whole match. If you think you may be interested please contact
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and we will arrange for you to come and have a go. You will not be under any obligation to be a ballboy/girl for every game, just the ones you are able to. The group of ballboy/girls we have at the moment are very friendly and extremely dedicated. However, they do sometimes need some time off, which is why we would like some more of you to come and help the players keep the games flowing. |
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