By Charlotte Hall, Local Democracy Reporting Service
SADDLEWORTH Football Club has been given the go ahead to turn a disused pitch into its new home venue.
The outfit – which has 15 junior teams aged seven to 14 and an academy with more than 50 five and six year-olds, plus an open age side – has been granted permission to bring the ‘stunning but neglected’ section of Bishops Park, on Ripponden Road at Grains Bar, back to life.
Oldham Council has now approved the 30-year use of the field, which is on charity trust land, for a peppercorn rent following the approach.
In its application, Saddleworth FC – which will seek funding through the Football Foundation’s Grass Pitch Maintenance Fund – stated it will ‘provide significant benefit to the Saddleworth community’ and it can also be used by other clubs.
It added: “Demand for junior sports in Saddleworth and the wider Oldham area continues to rise and the physical/mental health-related benefits of enabling these sports are clear.
“SFC is taking action to solve a major problem that exists today and will only increase tomorrow. with no quick fix.
“Bringing the Bishop Park pitches ‘back to life” would represent a significant step in SFC’s mission of providing the people of Saddleworth and the wider area the playing opportunities they deserve.
“There are six junior football clubs in the Saddleworth area – Diggle FC, Greenfield Giants, SFC, Saddleworth 3Ds FC, Springhead AFC and Uppermill FC.
“Between these clubs. there are over 70 junior teams. Some of these clubs also have “open age” (adult) teams.
“The number of teams requiring a home full size football pitch will continue to increase with the ever-growing popularity of the sport.
“Restoring the pitches at Bishops Park. which were in use prior to the Covid-19 pandemic. into high-quality well-maintained grass surfaces aligns with SFC’s vision.”
Saddleworth FC, which plans to create a pan-disability team, says it has ‘enabled hundreds of players of all abilities to enjoy playing the sport they love in a no-pressure. inclusive environment.’
And chair Mike Leyland believes the decision by Oldham Council’s Charitable Trust Committee on Tuesday, March 17 was needed.
He said: “Football is growing. Every year we get bigger numbers of boys and girls signing up for our teams.
“But the number of pitches in the borough is low, so we’re trying to make sure when they play and move up the ages, they have the right pitches to play on.”
Following the decision, local councillor Josh Charters said: “There are a lot of residents who comment about the state of the area, so it’s really good to see it being improved.
“We have a lot of greens but not necessarily a lot of places to play sports.”
And Cllr Sam Al-Hamdani, who has worked on bringing the pitch back into use for a number of years, added: “This is a public facility that had simply been abandoned, and left to go wild.
“It should be being used; we’re desperately short of facilities across the borough.
“Saddleworth FC have done a fantastic job of showing why this is needed.
“There’s a huge amount of work required to turn this around, so if there’s anyone out there who can help, get in touch.”
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