A grassroots football club in Salford is awaiting the outcome of a funding application that could see them find a permanent home.
North Walkden FC’s long-running campaign for a floodlit 3G pitch has gained significant momentum after Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham formally backed the club’s bid for a new all-weather facility at Harriet Street Playing Fields, next to Walkden Cricket Club.
The club, which has more than 20 teams and over 400 players, has spent years scattered across multiple sites after being forced to abandon Amblecote Playing Fields due to repeated damage.
North Walkden FC’s Treasurer, John Thomas, explained that the club have not played at their Amblecote home for “the three or four seasons.”
In a letter to the Football Foundation, Mayor Burnham described Walkden as “one of the largest football communities in the city.”
He highlighted that North Walkden FC have “no floodlight 3G pitch and asked the grassroots sports facilities provider to “directly respond to this need.”
For Thomas, who has volunteered for the club for 14 years, the situation has become increasingly unsustainable.
“We’ve got 20 teams and we don’t have a toilet,” he said. “That’s what it’s been like for the last 20 years, and everything is constantly falling through.”
With no home ground, the club now trains and plays across Wharton Playing Fields, Lowry Academy’s 3G, Star Salford Academy and the grass pitch at Chestnut Avenue in Worsley.
The cost of hiring facilities is one of their biggest pressures. “Our outgoings come to over 30 grand a year, which the club cannot sustain,” Thomas said. “But we know the objective of the club is to get these kids playing football.”
Councillor Jack Youd and Councillor Rob Sharp have led the push for the new pitch, which already has £500,000 in local funding secured.
Thomas credits both with getting the project further than previous attempts. “Jack’s really stepped up to the mark and Rob Sharp,” he said.
“We’ve been overlooked in pitch strategies for years despite having the worst facilities anywhere in Salford.”
The club’s growing girls’ and women’s sections, alongside a men’s side chasing promotion into the Manchester League Premier Division, have added urgency to the plans.
But Thomas says a lack of basic infrastructure is holding them back. “We want to be a lot more inclusive than we can actually be at the moment. We don’t have the facilities – we don’t even have a toilet,” he said.
Thomas believes the problem extends well beyond Walkden.
“You wouldn’t put cows on some of these pitches, football is our national sport and the facilities we have should be second to none.”
Baroness Barbara Keeley has also written in support of the project, highlighting the backing of Walkden Cricket Club, which already works closely with North Walkden FC.
Thomas said the relationship between the neighbouring sports clubs is long-standing and invaluable.
“Our presentations are all held at the cricket club. Some of our kids play football in winter and cricket in summer, it just makes sense,” he said.
Despite the progress and the backing of several high-profile politicians, Thomas remains cautious about the prospect of North Walkden FC being granted funding and licensing to build the astroturf pitch.
“We’ve been let down before, where our hopes have been built up, and we’ve been kicked in the teeth,” he said. “We’re positive, but we’re not building our hopes up until somebody says, ‘yeah, it’s happening.’”
The Football Foundation will now consider the application for match funding, which would allow building work on the 3G pitch to begin. For Thomas and the club’s 50 volunteers, the decision could finally end two decades of uncertainty.
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