Leigh Sports Village Stadium

By Matt Lawton
January 22 2009

After what has been an agonising wait for Leigh Genesis and it's supporters, the club finally their long-awaited debut at the Leigh Sports Village Stadium on Tuesday 27th January 2009 when neighbours FC United of Manchester ran out 2-0 victors in a UniBond Premier League fixture in front of 1,302 spectators.

Although it was originally intended that Leigh Genesis would begin the 2008/09 season in residence at the new stadium, the first "ramp-up" event (used to obtain the various stages of safety certificate) to take place at the stadium didn't happen until December 2008 when an invitation-only junior rugby league festival took place, with the first sports fixture seeing a sell-out 4,775 spectators see Leigh Centurions lose a pre-season friendly to Super League neighbours Salford City Reds on 28th December 2008.

The stadium is one of the easiest to find both in non-league football and rugby league, situated adjacent to the A579 Atherleigh Way, less than a mile from it's junction with the A580 East Lancashire Road. Being less than a 10 minute walk from Leigh bus station, it can be easily reached by regular bus services from neighbouring Bolton, Warrington, Wigan and Manchester, with the nearest railway station being four miles away in Atherton.

Leigh Sports Village Stadium is just one part of the whole Leigh Sports Village project, which also includes a state-of-the-art athletics stadium that is the home of Leigh Harriers Athletic Club, a sixth form college and public sports centre. The LSV is also home to Leigh East ARLFC, who were previously based adjacent to Leigh's old Hilton Park ground, where the impressive clubhouse and range of 3G artificial pitches have proved popular with both Premier League and rugby Super League clubs visiting the area, with the four-star Park Inn Hotel providing on-site accomodation.

The stadium has a full capacity of 12,700, of which 10,000 are seated, although usually only the northerly half of the West Stand is open for Leigh Genesis home fixtures. The original plans for the stadium indicated that it would be an all-seater stadium, but successful lobbying from football and rugby supporters alike meant that the North Stand is a large terrace behind one goal.

If you would like to know more about the Leigh Sports Village, further information can be found on their official website.

The Leigh Sports Village Stadium operates an all-ticket policy for all matches, and therefore there are no cash turnstiles in operation on a matchday. Supporters are encouraged to buy tickets in advance of matchday from the stadium Ticket Office, or alternatively purchase their tickets once they arrive at the stadium as this will obviously reduce queuing times in the lead up to kick off time.

Unfortunately, due to the financial constraints of playing at the Leigh Sports Village Stadium, Leigh Genesis are no longer resident at the ground and will play all of their home fixtures at Crilly Park during the 2010/2011 season.

LEIGH SPORTS VILLAGE STADIUM PHOTO GALLERY
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