The Weaponness Valley Sports Village Project

Weaponness Valley Coach Park, October 2009 

On June 22 2010 in a meeting of the Scarborough Borough Council Cabinet, officials discussed a report prepared by SBC Head of Tourism and Culture Brian Bennett and Strategic Director Hilary Jones.

The report was entitled 'Development of Sports Village and Community Stadium.' The document detailed the need for Scarborough to increase and upgrade its sporting facilities, gave a run-down of background information from June 2007 (the liquidation of Scarborough Football Club) to the date of the meeting, and outlined a proposal for Cabinet to recommend to Council and in principle agreement to begin development of a sports village and stadium.

The recommendation was carried, and SBC began serious work on creation of a sports village for the town, including a new football stadium, later in 2010. An initial time-scale of three to five years was given, with SBC actively looking for a development partner. At the time of writing (January 2011) the council was down to six development partners, who would each outline proposals in February before a final three are shortlisted and a final partner chosen.

Months earlier than the Cabinet meeting, supporters of Scarborough Athletic FC gathered to create the Back2Boro campaign. Focused on increasing awareness of the plight of Scarborough Athletic FC playing 20 miles out of town, B2B soon began raising awareness in the town with posters, leaflet distribution and fund-raising - which reached over £5,000 in September, and continues to grow. 

The B2B comittee has undertaken research on behalf of the club and its supporters and has reached agreement with the council to provide up to date information via the internet to those interested in the development of the project. The club wishes to thank Richard Oldale, Nick Finch and the B2B committee for the sterling work so far.

Official Council documents (available via the B2B website) state that construction is scheduled to start on August 30th 2012, with the football stadium phase complete by August 2013. There will of course be many issues to deal with over the coming months, but these dates could prove to be key in the future of Scarborough Athletic Football Club.

Everyone at Scarborough Athletic FC and the Back2Boro campaign is 100% full behind SBC in it's promise to deliver facilities that the town's sporting supporters and participants can be proud of.

Through the B2B website (www.back2boro.co.uk) you can keep up to date with these dates and key occurences in the process of getting SAFC Back 2 Boro.

Weaponness - The timeline, history and visuals (link to B2B website)