1. 3 updates

Ennis training stadium closed

The stadium where Olympic hero Jessica Ennis was discovered will be closed and demolished as a cost-cutting measure, councillors have decided.

Live updates

Athletics club chief 'furious' at Don Valley closure

The City of Sheffield Athletics Club chairman said he is "furious" at the council's decision to close the Don Valley Stadium.

Mike Corden said:

The writing was on the wall when they didn't instantly rename it after Jess following the Olympics.

We asked that question straight away and the politicians averted their eyes and waited for it to go away.

It's an appalling mess and if the politicians were bankers people would be baying for blood.

Advertisement

Stadium where Jessica Ennis trains to close

The stadium where Olympic hero Jessica Ennis was discovered will be closed and demolished as a cost-cutting measure, councillors have decided.

The £29 million Don Valley Stadium in Sheffield - where Ennis still trains - is being sacrificed as part of Sheffield City Council's bid to save millions of pounds.

Jessica Ennis celebrating her Olympic Heptathlon gold at London 2012. Credit: David Davies/PA Wire

The councillors voted in favour of the measure as part of an overall budget plan that was approved after a five-hour meeting.

The Labour-run authority said it must find £50 million of savings next year after sweeping public spending cuts were announced by the Government

A general view of the Don Valley Stadium, Sheffield, South Yorkshire. Credit: Dave Higgens/PA Wire

It says the £700,000 it spent subsidising the facility in 2012/13 is unsustainable as the facility is running at a loss.

Ennis said yesterday after receiving her CBE at Buckingham Palace, "Having that iconic stadium in my home city is incredible, and to lose that would be such a shame for future athletes coming through".

Back to top