SHEFFIELD EAGLES plan to build a new 5,000-seater stadium in the city in conjunction with non-league football club Sheffield FC.
The announcement of the project, based in the Meadowhead area to the south of the city centre, comes less than two years after the nomadic Championship club set up home at the Olympic Legacy Park, seven miles to the north-east.
However, the OLP currently holds only 2,000, and a larger stadium would enable the ambitious Eagles to meet Super League guidelines and also bring their various teams and community projects together under one roof.
The proposed new venue, at the former Sheffield Transport Sports Club site, will also encompass cricket facilities, a football museum (Sheffield FC, founded in 1857, are recognised as the world’s oldest football club) and an indoor community sports hall.
It is planned that the site will become an international visitor attraction for football and Rugby League fans alike and provide an insight into the history and heritage of both clubs.
It will also provide educational opportunities, recreational facilities, social amenities, business prospects and an array of community programmes.
It’s believed the project is being pushed forward by Sheffield-based vehicle finance and leasing specialist Jeremy Levine, an Eagles director since 2019 who has a stake in both clubs.
Sheffield FC, of the Northern Premier League Division One East (level eight on the pyramid), currently play in the Derbyshire town of Dronfield, between Sheffield and Chesterfield, and have been linked with a move to the Meadowhead site, three miles away, in the past.
The club has now submitted a planning pre-application to Sheffield City Council, with a full application set to follow in January.
Eagles director of rugby Mark Aston said: “We are very excited to be part of this joint-venture and to be at the heart of this world-class development, which will have a stadium that meets the Super League criteria.
“Sheffield Eagles have grown immensely in the last three years thanks to the work of the Eagles Foundation, and the planned facilities will also be a home for our women’s, wheelchair, learning disability and physical disability teams.
“It will also allow us to further develop homegrown talent and provide a base for our already-large community programme.
“The development will bring very valuable facilities to the Sheffield sports scene, and open up opportunities for sports outside football and Rugby League to be involved.
“With Sheffield FC being the world’s first football club and Sheffield Eagles about to celebrate our 40th anniversary, both have an enormous amount of heritage to bring together and the plans will see that captured under one roof.
“With league position making up only 20 percent of the RFL’s club-grading scoring matrix, the development of facilities and the ability to improve our commercial footing and build a solid base for the community aspects of our operation are an absolute priority for us.
“This development gives us an opportunity to drastically improve our grading and we hope that the entire city can get behind and share in the initiative.”
