Durham Women FC are delighted to confirm that the club will move to a new home ground for the 2020/21 season.
The Wildcats will now be based at Maiden Castle, Durham University Sport and Wellbeing Centre.
Situated in picturesque surroundings, the move represents an exciting step for the Wildcats and will enable the club to continue to build upon its award-winning match day experience and continue to provide the best match day possible for our supporters.
The venue is based at the heart of the city of Durham, with superb public transport links and easy access for both pedestrians and drivers.
After significant investment over recent months, our new home ground will boast a number of eye-catching features which will enhance the match-day experience for supporters and players alike when complete. These include:
- A newly-built, 300-seat, fully covered stand
- Newly-installed, top of the range floodlights
- A vast amount of free car parking on site
- Improved public transport links and pedestrian access
- Enhanced media and press facilities, which will enable the live-streaming and broadcast of games
- A high-quality artificial pitch and new changing facilities
Further work is scheduled to take place across the coming months to ensure that our new home ground will be a first class venue for supporters, once fans are able to return to FA Women’s Championship fixtures.
Our first competitive game at our new home will come on Sunday, September 13th when Lewes visit the North East.
Commenting on the exciting move, manager Lee Sanders said: “Firstly, we would like to sincerely thank Austin Carney – the owner of New Ferens Park – for the warm welcome always shown to Dawn, the Players, match day staff and myself, and for his desire to work with the club.
“It’s a relationship we will strive to continue in the future within the wider club.
“However, there has been a plan to develop the Maiden Castle site at the university for a while and with the new changing facilities in place and the protocols surrounding COVID-19 it was felt by all parties – the FA, the club and Durham University – that now was the time to move to ensure maximum risk mitigation for players, officials and fans on match days.
“The backdrop to the new ground is wonderfully picturesque, it’s in the heart of Durham and when completed in full will be somewhere I’m certain our fans will enjoy visiting.
“As we already train out of the state-of-the-art facilities, I know first hand the players are getting the best out there to support them and this is the next step in that support that the university is delivering – the investment has been significant as everyone will see.
“Fans will still see all the familiar faces and receive that warm welcome they’ve always had at New Ferens Park, and on behalf of all the staff and players we can’t wait to see the supporters at the new ground soon.”
Durham University’s Head of Sport and Physical Activity Mark Brian added: “We are really excited to be able to welcome Durham Women FC to the Sports and Wellbeing Park.
“It is great that the partnership between the university and the club can become ever closer and hosting the team at our new £32m facility will ensure that we continue the support of players through access to our world class support structures.
“We are hoping that by having the team play out of the Park we will begin to generate a student following as well as continue to generate and build upon the already fantastic local support.”
The club will release details on season tickets and individual match tickets once there is a clearer picture as to when and how supporters will be able to return to sporting events.