Park View Academy of Sport in partnership with Chester-Le-Street United are delighted to announce plans for a new state of the art FIFA approved 4G ground and pitch. The new ground will be located at Park View School, Church Chare. The new facility will enhance Park View Academy of Sports world class facilities at the Riverside and partner with Chester-Le-Street United Mens & Womens teams creating a home for the club.
The new ground will provide Park View Academy of Sport football students a professional setting to play and train in!
The new pitch will provide Chester-Le-Street United youth section a home for training and games for some of its 57 junior boys and girls teams.
The aim of this facility is to provide a community hub for all young people in Chester-Le-Street to enjoy. The facility will be open to all other community users and will be operated in partnership between Park View Community Centre and Chester-Le-Street United.
In keeping in with Park View Schools values we want to create a community space that enhances the offer for sport in our local area.
This facility will significantly enhance Park View Schools P.E offer ensuring the facility remains in use during the day and on an evening.
This new 4G pitch supports the localised playing pitch strategy as defined by Durham County Council and the FA, and whilst this pitch does not receive Football Foundation funding we believe that this facility will play a major role in enhancing a football offer for local people and local clubs.
The new ground will allow Chester-Le-Street United to attempt to climb through the National Football League System providing a ground that is compliant for future promotion should the Mens team perform on the pitch.
The Womens senior team share the same ambition as that of the mens who aspire to climb through the National League System and gain promotion playing in a fit for purpose ground, the first of its kind in the North East for Womens Football.
Plans are in place to offer disability and walking football ensuring that we bring football all year round to all members of our community. Through this community cohesion we aspire to support local businesses following the COVID-19 pandemic by bringing more footfall into the town and therefore the regeneration of Chester-Le-Street.
The new development subject to planning approval is envisaged to begin in July 2021 with a completion date of January 2022.
Andy Finley, Headteacher at Park View School said, "Our Academy of Sport for 16-19 year olds goes from strength to strength in terms of the sports on offer and the quality of academic and sporting talent we produce. The exponential growth of the Academy of Sport over the last four years at our base at the Emirates Riverside site has been amazing and it gives me a lot of pride to showcase our plans to develop quality sporting facilities at the school too. As a school at the heart of Chester-le-Street, it is important to us that these facilities are not only made available to the school and Academy of Sport students but local sports teams and individuals too. There are exciting times ahead for us and we can't wait to see our community benefit from more quality sporting facilities in the town."
Lewis Pendleton, Director of Sport at Park View Academy of Sport said, "The new ground has been a shared vision since we started the Academy of Sport some 4 years ago. Our plans to create our own football facility is imperative to the academy's future growth and success. By creating a partnership with Chester-Le-Street United we are able to ensure the facility is well used on an evening by the community. We look forward to creating a community asset that provides our local area with a much needed space.