Stadium loses licence to host competitive events

An athletics stadium in Sheffield has lost its permission to hold competitive events.

The licence from UK Athletics for City Athletics Stadium on Woodbourn Road has expired and the organisation said the university needed to apply for a new inspection.

The stadium can continue to be used for training and recreational sport, but can no longer host licensed competitions including National Athletics League matches and Regional Championships.

Sheffield Hallam University has been accused of "mismanaging" the site by campaigners. The university said it cannot afford the £1.5m investment to meet the standards required but was working on a "sustainable solution".

Sheffield Hallam University was notified that its TrackMark accreditation - designed by UK Athletics to raise and maintain standards of athletics facility provision - had expired.

However, local athletes, parents and coaches who use the site said its condition had been deteriorating for some time.

Tom Grantham, 43, a PE teacher and former athlete with the City of Sheffield and Dearne AC, who now oversees athletics for secondary schools in Sheffield, described the facilities as "going under ruin".

"Hallam have invested no time and money into it," he said.

"It's been a long time coming. In the past they've patched things up and scraped through and now I think you can't patch up anymore."

The site was refurbished to replace the Don Valley stadium, which closed in 2013.

Councillor Kurtis Crossthorn, chair of the communities, parks and leisure committee at Sheffield City Council, said: "We are disappointed that accreditation has lapsed, particularly given the impact on local athletes, clubs and the wider community."

He said the council was working with Sheffield Hallam University to "understand the challenges and explore all viable options".

"Our shared priority is to identify a sustainable long‑term solution that supports the athletics community and secures the future of competitive provision in Sheffield," he said.

Bryan Lodge, the former co-chair of the finance sub-committee at the council, said the university had "invested a lot of money to begin with into the stadium" and he hoped the facilities could be brought back up to scratch.

Lee Thompson, 28, is a 400m runner who competed for Great Britain at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021 and has trained at the Woodbourn Road site for ten years.

"Don Valley used to host the Golden Leagues and now we've gone to not even being able to host any competition at all, so it's a real fall-off," he said.

"Last year we had to take a home match to Derby, which is a great facility, but you'd like to be able to do that home match at your home track."

Other competitions are now expected to be relocated to Herringthorpe Stadium in Rotherham, the Dorothy Hyman track in Barnsley, or Derby.

Greg Rimmer, who is a member of Sheffield and Dearne Athletics Club and a volunteer field judge for England Athletics, has started a petition calling on the university and council to urgently invest in the necessary upgrades.

"It is a blow to the spirit of our community and a setback for aspiring athletes who are impacted by the emotional and logistical burdens of travelling to distant venues to showcase their talents," he said.

"It's a loss of not just opportunity but also of exposure and pride for the city."

A spokesperson for Sheffield Hallam University said the organisation was working with the council to find a "sustainable, long term solution".

"We appreciate how disappointing this news will be for the athletics community, and we are contacting affected users to offer support, discuss alternative arrangements where needed, and help minimise the disruption as far as possible," they said.

"An independent inspection process has highlighted that the facility requires more than £1.5m of investment to meet the standards required for reaccreditation, and the university is not in a financial position to commit to this level of investment."

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