RIPON City Panthers have been handed the keys to the door of their new £350,000 pavilion and football pitches at Hell Wath Playing Fields in the City.

 

Although the club received a major cash injection from Harrogate Borough Council and the Football Foundation, Ripon City Panthers had to work extremely hard to make up the balance of funding needed to finish off this first-class facility, which is set to become one of the best amateur venues in the North of England.

 

This handover follows the signing of the lease between the Panthers and Harrogate Borough Council, which means that training can begin ready for this autumn's season.

 

Ripon City Panthers were formed in 1984 and they currently have over 200 playing members aged between 8 and 16 as well as a number of qualified coaches.  But until now they have had inadequate facilities for such a large club.

 

Mark Hardcastle, the council's Leisure Development Manager, who has led the council team working on the provision of this facility, said: "Ripon City Panthers have long sought to improve the football facilities for their members and it was always accepted that this was a much-needed facility for young people in the City.

 

"We were lucky enough to get nearly quarter of a million pounds from the Football Foundation, the UK's largest sports charity, which is dedicated to revitalising the grass roots of the game, helping to construct modern facilities and develop the game.  And is another visible sign of the council's investment in sporting opportunities.  We believe that Ripon City Panthers now have a home pitch they can be proud of."

 

Kenneth Rowe, Chairman of Ripon City Panthers Junior Football Club said: "This has been a long time coming but we are delighted with our new facilities."

 

 

Hell Wath playing fields is a popular dog walking area but levels of dog fouling on the pitches is of concern to the council and the club.  The Ripon City Panthers will be helping Harrogate dog wardens tackle this fouling of their pitches and will lead to some high profile and visible campaigns to warn dog walkers of the penalties they will face if they do not clear up after their pets.