AN area next to the home of Bradford City which attracted anti-social behaviour has been transformed into a £1.3 million sports complex.
The Midland Road Sports Complex, attached to the existing BEAP Community Partnership building on Cornwall Road, Manningham, features a host of new facilities.
The new site has two changing rooms, a pavilion, cafe and three 5G football pitches - two for children’s four-a-side and a larger seven-a-side pitch for adults.
The derelict MUGA site of Lupton Street Park, a tarmac sports pitch, had previously attracted anti-social behaviour, including vandalism and the lighting of fireworks until building work began on the centre in September last year.
As part of the project, the indoor sports hall in the BEAP centre, attached to the new complex, has been given a makeover. It has been fitted with a multi-purpose sports surface for sports including badminton, cricket and tennis.
The complex, which officially opens on Thursday, is set to host a fan zone on home Bradford City matchdays from later in the forthcoming season, where Bantams fans and their away counterparts can meet up before kick-off.
Humayun Islam, BEAP chief executive, who has spearheaded the project, says the complex will provide an important service for the community in and around Manningham.
He said: “I feel really overjoyed and excited what the next step will be for people to maximise the centre.
“Manningham does not usually get this type of investment. It’s amazing to get this type of investment here.
“Anti-social behaviour and drug taking were taking place there. In November it used to be used for bonfires there. It was an area with a lot of vandalism. The complex will revitalise the area.
“It’s a goldmine for the community now. It’s an amazing space that we can utilise so much more now.
“We will start a Bradford City fan zone here on matchdays where home and away fans can come together and use this building here.”
Funding for the project has come from the Football Foundation - the Premier League, the FA and Government’s charity which helps communities improve their local football facilities through football grants; the Power to Change charitable trust; Sport England and Bradford Council, the latter pumping in £100,000 for the project.
Bradford City Academy is holding an open trial for players who live within the Bradford district and are of South Asian ethnicity at the complex on August 18.
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