City of York Athletics Club facing up to uncertainty over future of track

9:48am Monday 10th November 2008

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City of York Athletics Club are more popular than ever, but how are they coping with the uncertainty surrounding their Huntington Stadium home? STEVE CARROLL investigates.

IT is not the dozens of athletes pounding their way round the track.

What strikes you on arriving at Huntington Stadium are the throngs of parents, friends and volunteers cheering in the main stand.

If this were a meeting, you might be forgiven for not blinking twice.

But this isn’t the frenzied heat of competitive battle. It is Monday night training.

Thriving doesn’t adequately describe the revolution at City of York Athletics Club.

With some 600 members, enthusiastically taking part in every track and field discipline you can think of, the only thing packed tighter than this week night get-together, is the outfit’s trophy cabinet.

So as the race to build a new community stadium enters its decisive lap, the club are playing an important role in the City of York Council-led process.

There is a reason why club chairman Neil Hunter and his officials are so keen to be involved.

A key plank of the new stadium scheme is likely to see Huntington Stadium sold off – combining that receipt with the sale of Bootham Crescent to pay for York’s bright new ground future. That would leave the athletics club without a home, but Hunter is calm.

The council has promised to pump £1 million from any sale into relocating the track and they have set up a working group, with the football and rugby club, to explore the new stadium scheme.

For Bill Woolley, the council’s city strategy director, the athletics club are a hugely important part of the whole project.

“We will ensure they are catered for whatever happens. We have committed, through this process, to ensuring there is a place for the athletics club,” he said.

“There is an awful lot of work to do – to establish what is going to happen to Huntington Stadium and where the athletics club is going to go in the grand scheme of things.

“I don’t think it is inevitable but it is likely (that Huntington Stadium will be sold). At the moment, the working assumption is that the value of Huntington Stadium would help fund the new community stadium, along with Bootham Crescent.

“Until we get into the detail of what it is going to provide we are all speculating to a degree but there are more ways of providing athletics than having to have it in the stadium.

“You could have a facility that could have a track associated with it. We are looking at examining all the options.”

It has not always been like this.

Five years ago, the club – then Nestlé Rowntree Athletics Club – railed against the football club’s proposed move to Huntington Stadium, launching a petition to save the track amid fears it would be lost in a redevelopment of the Monks Cross venue.

David Moorcroft, the former 5,000 metre world record holder and then boss of UK Athletics, weighed into the debate, writing to the council to demand they either kept the track or provided new facilities of the same standard elsewhere.

Hunter, pictured left, says the club feel they are fully involved and is comforted by the council’s current stance.

“We are fully supportive of the proposals but we would also be very happy should the decision to be taken to retain the site at Huntington Stadium,” he said.

“We are comforted by the repeated assurances by the council that there will be no period where the city is without a county standard track and we are satisfied with the minimum standards being set for any new athletics provision, which is in essence a similar provision to the facilities at Huntington Stadium.”

But there are issues. Will £1 million be enough to fund an athletics track and stand to the same standard as Huntington Stadium? Veteran coach Geoff Barraclough, who has been at City of York Athletics Club for more than 30 years, doesn’t think so.

“It is not going to be enough to fund it as like-for-like, which it would have to be and it would have to be built to the modern standards. I think it needs to be £2 to £2.5 million,” he said.

“That’s what we have got to have. It is no good just having a track to run round. You need a bit of shelter, changing space and storage space – there’s a lot of equipment.”

There is merit to his argument. A council report concluded replacement of the track, with a small spectator stand, field events, jumps facilities and equipment would cost at least £1.5 million.

“This assumes that it will be co-located with other sports facilities which will include changing and parking facilities,” officers told ruling councillors.

“A venue which meets the needs of the club and other athletics users will be required. A possible location could be the new Heslington East campus.”

Hunter isn’t quite as blunt as Barraclough, but even he acknowledges there are “risks” the club needs to manage.

While the council continues to ponder whether or not to sell Huntington Stadium, the club are restricted in developing the track. And there are bigger concerns.

“The running and maintenance costs of a new athletics stadium could potentially be significantly higher than existing facilities and, although the club will work with the council to identify new revenue streams, there is a risk the cost of athletics for our young athletes may become unaffordable,” Hunter said.

“We are developing an inclusive and diverse club and would not wish to see affordability become a barrier for participation.

“Although the concept of a cost neutral project is very challenging for all parties this change is being enforced upon athletics users in York by our two professional clubs and, while appreciating the community benefit and prestige of a great new football and rugby stadium, I am concerned that if there is an ongoing operating deficit then charges for the hiring of the athletics stadium would increase at a rate higher than inflation. This risk would not be so great if we remained at Huntington Stadium.”

Despite their success, City of York Athletics Club – like many sporting organisations – are not awash with cash. Hunter reckons that, despite sponsorship, the club are still expecting to make a loss of around £9,000 this year.

It is also worth remembering the Huntington Stadium synthetic track is the only one in North Yorkshire and Hunter is pleased at assurances there will be no break in provision. He stressed: “Ongoing access is essential if we are to continue growing the club, keeping young athletes actively involved in the sport and providing a venue for competitions organised by both the club, schools and other local organisations.”

For the moment, the club are content with the way the debate is panning out. And, on the council’s part, Woolley recognises there are bigger issues at stake than simply York City and York City Knights.

“This is a fantastic opportunity,” he said. “There has been a lot of talk about the football club and rugby club but this goes further than providing a sports stadium for professional football.

“This is about providing community facilities which don’t exist at the moment or, if they do exist, providing them in a much better and effective form. We want everyone to be a winner.”