New site for five-a-side in a disused train yard in Shoreditch

 
Shoreditch Powerleague

An abandoned railway goods yard that has stood empty for almost half a century has been turned into central London’s biggest five-a-side football complex.

The two and a half acre site in Shoreditch has already attracted hundreds of bookings from local teams that could not previously find places to play close to their offices.

The opening is part of a £20 million programme to convert sites awaiting development around London into “pop-up” sports centres.

The new centre, called London City, has eight five-a-side pitches, 2 seven-a-side pitches, a netball court and a cricket wicket. It is open from early morning to 10.30pm each day.

Local schools and community groups are able to use the pitches for free at quieter times during the working day.

The site is owned by Network Rail and sits under the main London Overground line into Shoreditch High Street Station. It is part of a ten acre former goodsyard destroyed by fire in 1964.

The land is earmarked for eventual development by property companies Hammerson and Ballymore, which plan to build up to 2000 new homes and one million sq feet of offices and shops.

Sean Tracey, chief executive of the centre’s operator, PowerLeague, said: ”We only got planning permission in November and its the quickest site we’ve ever built out. We’ve only been open a week but we’ve already got 150 league teams signed up and 150 social bookings. It’s the highest number of enquiries we’ve ever had.”

Kate Hoey MP, the Mayor for London’s Commissioner for Sport, said: “In a city like London, we need to find innovative ways to create new sporting opportunities. The Mayor and I are both committed to increasing the range of these opportunities for Londoners..”

Rob Allan, assistant director of development at Hammerson added: “We have a long history of working well with Powerleague on our development sites. The Goodsyard will ultimately become a vibrant new mixed-use London ‘village’ linking the City with Brick Lane and will comprise retail, residential and office components, but it is great that before that, it will still create value for the local community by providing much needed sports facilities.”

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