Sporting luminaries backing club’s bid for a home

FORMER SHEFFIELD Wednesday and Leeds United manager Howard Wilkinson is among the big names backing a junior football team’s bid to secure a permanent home.

He has joined the likes of former Premier League referee Keith Hackett and leading cricket umpire Richard Kettleborough in signing a petition by Ecclesall Rangers Junior Football Club to guarantee its long-term future.

The club, which has 23 teams, has played at Bannerdale playing fields, off Carter Knowle Road, since the early 1990s but had to move this season to Whirlow playing fields in Dore while the new Mercia School is being built beside its long-term home.

It wants to fence off the pitches at Bannerdale to protect them from vandals who have previously targeted the site, and help get the funding it needs for changing rooms and other new facilities.

The club – whose alumni include Owls keeper Cameron Dawson and Manchester City Women and England Women’s Under-17s defender Esme Morgan – has claimed that without permission to fence off the pitches its future could be under threat. More than 800 people have signed the petition.

Mr Hackett, who officiated some of football’s biggest games and is the man behind the You Are

the Ref comic strips, said it was vital clubs like Ecclesall Rangers got the support they needed to keep youth football flourishing.

“A safe environment for children to play football is so important, and this long-established club which serves the community so well deserves to have its own secure ground,” said the former referee, who played football in Crosspool as a child.

“All the top players and officials come through grassroots football, and I couldn’t have achieved what I did without it. But it’s not just about producing stars of the future, it’s about ensuring everyone has the chance to play football.”

Mr Kettleborough, the former Yorkshire batsman who is now one of cricket’s top umpires, helps out with Ecclesall Rangers’ under-sevens, who won both leagues and cups in which they competed this season. “This club is a bit of an institution and it gives so many youngsters the chance to play sport,” he said.

Sheffield Council said it is in talks with Ecclesall Rangers and Millhouses Junior FC, which also uses the ground.