The Hunslet Club, a leading youth organisation in South Leeds, has officially opened its brand-new £1.2 million 3G sports facility yesterday (6 October 2025), funded through the Football Foundation’s Lionesses Fund – a national investment programme designed to boost women’s and girls’ participation in sport.
The Hunslet Club is proud to be one of just 30 sites across the country selected to receive this funding, recognising the club’s commitment to providing inclusive, high-quality sporting opportunities for all young people.
The new 3G pitch will not only transform football opportunities for girls and women in South Leeds but will also enhance community access to year-round sport, training, and development session for all young people in the area.
The grand opening was attended by The Lord Lieutenant of West Yorkshire, Ed Anderson, along with Hunslet legends Peter Swan and Jason Robinson, who joined club members, families, and supporters to celebrate the milestone. Leeds United Women’s Abi Lee and rugby legend Jason Robinson had the honour of cutting the gold ribbon, marking the official opening of the state-of-the-art facility.
Following the ceremony, young members of The Hunslet Club flooded onto the pitch to showcase a range of activities, from football and rugby to multi-sport games, highlighting the wide variety of opportunities now available on site.
“This investment is a game-changer for South Leeds,” said Ryan Grant, Director of Business & Education at The Hunslet Club. “It’s about giving every young person – especially girls – the chance to get involved, be active, and thrive in a safe, inclusive environment. We’re incredibly proud to be part of this national movement.”
The Football Foundation’s Lionesses Fund aims to level the playing field by improving access to grassroots facilities and increasing female participation in football across the UK.
For more information about The Hunslet Club and its wide range of activities, visit hunsletclub.org.uk or follow @HunsletClub on social media.
This post is based on a press release issued by The Hunslet Club
Photo L-R: Jason Robinson, Abi Lee and the Lord Lieutenant of West Yorkshire
While you’re here, can we ask a favour?
South Leeds Life is published by a not-for-profit social enterprise. We keep our costs as low as possible but we’ve been hit by increases in the print costs for our monthly newspaper which have doubled in the last two years.
Could you help support local community news by making a one off donation, or even better taking out a supporters subscription?
Donate here, or sign up for a subscription at bit.ly/SLLsubscribe
Well, blow me down – no objections about this artificial pitch from those people who usually wade in complaining about a well-known and highly successful local school when it builds a new artificial pitch. Where are you Suzy? Or is it only educational facilities that shouldn’t make use of new artificial pitches? Or perhaps the members of the Hunslet Club aren’t prone to the type of diseases you constantly state are the result of using such a pitch.
You are right Henry to point out this other development, built by well meaning but misguided club officials lured by the generous funding. Yes it’s just as bad as Cockburn’s with tonnes of microplastics containing harmful chemicals, carcinogens and PFAS etc. Children are uniquely vulnerable to chemical pollution. Only the other week Dr Helen Tattersfield raised her concerns over potentially serious detrimental health effects on young players health in Lewisham. Lewisham council is also under fire from community leaders for ‘environmental racism’. As you can imagine targeting poorer communities with plastic pitches (removing vital inner city green space) is viewed as a social justice issue. Here in Leeds affluent Harewood Ward received brand new natural grass pitches. No plastic for the children in Harewood Ward. It’s a good example of how the local authority perpetuates health inequalities across the city. The pitches also create urban heat islands, reducing air quality for everyone.
But the Cockburn pitch raised much more local anger than the Hunslet Club pitch for a number of reasons. Cockburn’s is built on greenbelt land that was added to Middleton Park and already in use by the local community. The land was part of Leeds Wildlife Habitat Network and is adjacent to ancient woodland and the nature reserve. The leachate drains into the beck within the nature reserve. It seems the proposed pitch in Lewisham is in a very similar sensitive location and the community has described the 3G pitch proposal there as ‘Environmental Vandalism’. Campaigners in Beeston also described Cockburn’s proposal as ‘Environmental Vandalism’. The council were indeed found at fault by the ombudsman for allowing Cockburn pitch workers to destroy hedgehog habitat during construction. The school is currently struggling to put in place a scheme to protect the ancient footpath and what remains of the hedgerow.