Beamish Football Centre re-opens following a £1.6M Investment

Newcastle United (NUFC) midfielder Nathan Carlyon joined young footballers last weekend to officially re-open a much-loved community sports hub in his home county.

Beamish Football Centre, in Stanley, County Durham, has been transformed into a vibrant new space for young people, providing them with a state-of-the-art football facility and community hub to enhance their wellbeing, have fun, and grow their self-confidence.

A Youth Investment Fund grant of £1.6 million paid for a renovation of the youth centre, with the new space benefiting both young people and the local community.

The NUFC youngster joined local young footballers, youth workers, and members of the community for the celebratory event and cut the ribbon to officially announce its grand reopening.

The Youth Investment Fund grant enabled Stanley Events, which manages Beamish Football Centre, to completely redevelop the facility. In the past, Newcastle United’s Jamie and Lewis Miley have also trained at the hub, as well as Coventry City’s Ben Wilson, and ex-Everton defender Lewis Gibson.

Local youngsters played a key role in shaping the project, with North East firm MGM Construction the lead contractor on the development.

Speaking at the ribbon cutting, Carl Marshall, who runs Stanley Events alongside his wife, Anna, said:

“It is a huge honour to be here today for the official opening of Beamish Football Centre.”

“Over the past 12 months, we have worked tirelessly on this project to ensure it would be ready for the next academic year, so I can’t thank everyone involved in the project enough for all of their incredible work.”

“The hub will not only be a football centre, it’ll also be a community and educational hub benefiting people from all backgrounds, creating a real community asset for Stanley and its surrounding areas.”