Director Adam supports grassroots football revival
Community benefit is at the heart of all Priority Space’s commercial work and it’s the same outside the office too! Director Adam Richardson has applied his land management know-how - and love of football – to help bring a long-neglected sports and recreation ground back to life.
Team members enjoy their new sports and recreation ground
As a volunteer trustee of Silkstone Common Sports and Recreation Association he’s very pleased to share the progress of this community venture as the village’s first junior footballers - including his seven-year-old daughter Hope! - kicked off their first matches on the sports ground last weekend.
Adam says: “We’ve come together in our village to bring our neglected sports and recreation ground back to life and it’s been great pooling all our different skills and resources to achieve this.
“I do a bit of everything but found my experience of dealing with local authorities and all sorts of regulations relating to land and contract agreements very useful.
“It’s now great to see youngsters back on the pitch playing competitive football! We’ve involved boys and girls in the sport right from the start as it should be and my daughter Hope loves it .”
Adam’s wife, Kelly Marie, is also actively involved and new football club sponsors include Priority Space partners Jackson Property Agents.
Read about the revival of grassroots football in Adam’s village below:
Two teams of young footballers have played the first competitive matches on their community football ground in more than 20 years.
Silkstone Common Miners Welfare Football FC hosted the historic games which marked the revival of grassroots football in the village.
The Under 8s team kicked off against St Josephs of Worksop, in the Sheffield and Hallamshire’s Junior League; followed by the Under 10s against Durkar Green FC in the Barnsley and District Junior League.
Adam’s daughter and team member Hope
These first matches follow a four-year campaign to restore Silkstone Common’s neglected recreation ground and revive sporting opportunities for local young people.
Chair of Silkstone Common Sports and Recreation Association Nigel Matthewman said: “It was wonderful to see the youngsters take to the pitch and play the first games we’ve seen in Silkstone Common in two decades. The boys and girls did us proud.
“The junior teams are now up and running, and next year we plan to start women’s and men’s teams too.”
Silkstone Common Miners Welfare FC was founded in in 1926 when local miners accessed welfare funds to purchase a patch land in Hall Royd Wood and cleared the trees to create a football pitch.
Following pit closures, ownership of the recreation and sports ground passed to Barnsley Council from British Coal in the 1990s. Then, fire destroyed the club’s pavilion and facilities in 1996, which was a great blow for both community and club. Silkstone Miners Welfare FC played their last game here in 2002.
The club’s revival today is down to Silkstone Common Sports and Recreation Association which was set up in 2019 to bring the outdoor space and football club back to life and improve its facilities.
Working closely with Barnsley Council, the charity has raised funds, conducted feasibility studies and drawn-up detailed plans for further development.
Nigel said: “We’ve worked very hard as a community to make the sports and recreation ground good again for the benefit of everyone.”
More active volunteers and sponsors are needed to support Silkstone Common’s grassroots junior football revival.
Silkstone Common Miners Welfare FC
Players of all abilities, aged 5-10, are welcome at the Silkstone Common Miner’s Welfare FC. Training is every Wednesday at the recreation ground (or indoors at Shoot5 during winter months) from 6pm. See the club’s Facebook group if you are interested in joining; and for sponsorship and volunteering opportunities contact Nigel Matthewman on 07515403123.