Leigh Sports Village is a multi-use sports,[5] retail and housing development in Leigh, Greater Manchester, England. The centrepiece of the development is a 12,000-capacity stadium which is home to professional rugby league team Leigh Leopards, Manchester United's Under-21 and Academy teams and Manchester United Women. The complex also plays host to amateur rugby league club Leigh East and amateur athletics club Leigh Harriers, who both occupy dedicated facilities on the site. Other facilities on site include the Leigh campus of Wigan and Leigh College, Leigh Sports Centre, which includes a gym, multi-use sports hall and swimming pool, a Holiday Inn Express hotel, a Morrisons supermarket and the Whistling Wren pub. During 2022, it hosted matches in the UEFA Women's Euro 2022.
Background
Construction of the Leigh Sports Village stadium
Leigh Sports Village is a development southwest of Leigh town centre, on the south side of the Leigh arm of the Leeds and Liverpool Canal, close to Pennington Flash Country Park and accessed from the A579, Atherleigh Way and by pedestrian routes from the town and surrounding area. It is also close to the A580 "East Lancashire Road". The scheme was initially developed to contribute to the regeneration of Leigh and provide modern facilities for local sports clubs, schools and the local community.[6]
The main focus of the sports village is the stadium built for local professional sports clubs and its associated facilities. It is all seating in the West, East and South Stands with standing in the North Stand. There is a 25-metre swimming pool, gymnasia and activity rooms and a sports hall used by the sports clubs, college and the local community. A synthetic 400-metre (440 yd) running track, covered training facility and field sports area was built for Leigh Harriers and Athletic Club. Amateur rugby league club, Leigh East ARLFC has a clubhouse at the Leigh Sports Village Arena.[6]
Leigh College occupy a site on the stadium perimeter and share sports and youth facilities. To make the project commercially viable, retail and commercial premises, housing and a hotel were built on the site close to Atherleigh Way.[6]
Roads on the Sports Village site are named after three local sporting personalities: Tommy Sale, Jimmy Ledgard and Geoff Turner.[7]
The roads are Sale Way, home to the stadium, sixth form college and sports centre, Turner Way address of Leigh Harriers Athletics Club, whilst Ledgard Avenue accommodates the new Leigh East clubhouse.
Stadium
The stadium in rugby league set up
Two ramp-up events were held during December 2008 to fulfil safety certification requirements. A children's rugby league festival was held on 14 December 2008 as the first event, rescheduled from the previous week because of a frozen pitch.[8]
After a successful first event, the crowd capacity was set at 4,775. A sell-out crowd of 4,714 saw Leigh versus Salford on 28 December 2008.[9][10]
Leigh Sports Village was included in the London 2012 Pre-Games Training Camp Guide. The facility was available for use by competing nations as a training camp before the London 2012Olympic Games. Though officials negotiated with the Ukrainian Olympic team, no nation chose to base athletes at Leigh Sports Village.[12]
On 27 July 2013, the stadium staged its first Rugby League Challenge Cup semi-final between Wigan and London Broncos.
On Tuesday 5 November, the stadium hosted the Rugby League World Cup 2013 Tonga versus Cook Islands tie, which was won by Tonga 22–16 in front of a then stadium record crowd of 10,544.[13] This attendance was surpassed on Sunday 11 August when the semi-final of the Challenge Cup saw an attendance of 12,005 witness Castleford defeat Widnes 28–6.[3]
The Leigh Sports Village has hosted four England internationals,[17] in addition to hosting a further five test matches not featuring England.
The first two non-England matches were part of the 2013 and 2017 Rugby League World Cup. The 2013 game was part of the competition proper and was an inter-group match between Tonga and Cook Islands on 5 November 2013. The game saw 10,554 in attendance, and Tonga won 22–16. The 2017 game was part of the qualifying stages. The match was between Italy and Russia on Friday 4 November 2016, with the winner securing the 14th and final berth in the tournament in Australasia. Four hundred and fifty people were in attendance as Italy took the final World Cup spot with a 76–0 hammering.
The site is operated by Leigh Sports Village Company on behalf of Wigan Council – owners of the stadium, athletic stadium and clubhouse, swimming pool and sports centre, rugby league clubhouse and 3G pitches. Wigan Leisure and Culture Trust operate Leigh Indoor Sports Centre. Along with the general public, use of artificial and grass pitches, sports hall, gymnasium and swimming pool, the Leigh Sports Village site has several long-term tenants.
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