£3.5-million community football hub opened at University of Hull

A new £3.5-million football hub has been officially opened at the University of Hull.

 The facility was opened by Hull City Tigers ambassador Dean Windass, as well as boxer Tommy Coyle, during an afternoon of celebrations, including a KickZ session with the Tigers Trust, Zorb Balls, beat the keeper, a target shoot-out and more.

 The Football Hub wasmade possible, in part, by a £500,000 grant from the Premier League & The FA Facilities Fund, which is delivered by the Football Foundation.

 It is part of a £16-million enhancement of sports facilities at the University.

 The new hub includes a purpose-built pavilion on the sports field off Inglemire Lane, which includes eight team changing rooms, two officials’ changing rooms, two seminar rooms, spectator toilets and a physiotherapy room.

 As well as the pavilion, the grant helped to replace one of the University’s grass pitches, which was prone to water-logging, with a new 3G artificial grass pitch (AGP).

 Work also included the refurbishment of the University’s other artificial grass pitches, a fully refurbished multi-use games area, improved access and car parking.

 It is expected overall participation in sport at the site will increase by 69 per cent, following the investment and the number of teams using the University’s facilities will increase from 74 to 93.

Dave Varley, Head of Sport at the University of Hull, said: “We are thrilled to be opening this fantastic facility. We are grateful to the Premier League & FA Facilities Fund for the significant investment. We are extremely proud of these superb facilities and what they will bring to the University, staff, students and the local community. They will help increase participation in sport right from grassroots to elite level. Sport is a huge part of University life and something we place a huge emphasis on and these state-of-the-art facilities will improve the quality of our sporting offer for not only our students, but the wider community.”

 The football hub will not only be used by students, but will also be a community facility used by many clubs, including partner clubs Cottingham Rangers FC and Hull City Ladies FC.

As an official training partner of Hull City FC, the university has strong links with the club, whose Tigers Trust will also use the facility to deliver weekly community outreach sessions.