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Old Headingley's fight for survival after clubhouse blaze
Old Headingley AFC is hoping to rise from the ashes once again after its clubhouse was almost destroyed in a massive fire.
The blaze at Old Headingley AFC's base in Pudsey comes just two years after the club was first left homeless.
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The team was offered the space at Bradford University's playing fields following a campaign called Save Old Headingley – and now, Save Old Headingley Again has been launched to help the club continue into next season.
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Chairman, Sam Brown, told Headingley Today: "We couldn't believe it when we heard about the fire. We were just getting to the point where we were settled and everything looked rosy for next season. Then this happened and ripped the carpet from under our feet."
The Save Old Headingley campaign was launched in 2007 when the club was faced with extinction.
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The team, originally based at the Skyrack pub, was kicked off their former home ground in Collingham and had nowhere else to play which met the standards of the West Yorkshire League, which meant they were threatened with expulsion.
In the same year, the club had won the prestigious Barkston Ash Cup and achieved its highest-ever league position.
Luckily, Bradford University stepped in and let them use the pitch at
Woodhall Playing Fields in Pudsey.
But the clubhouse was destroyed in a suspected arson attack on May 28, meaning that once again, the club is fighting for survival.
Sam added: "We've got a meeting with Bradford University next week to see if anything can be salvaged or if there's anything they can do to help, like provide temporary changing rooms. If not, then we're right back to square one.
"We would need to find somewhere new to play, which would be a nightmare scenario. It could mean the end for the club."
Former manager Chris Burns and his pals originally set up the club in 2001, playing out of the Skyrack pub on Otley Road.
The team, initially made up of engineering students from Leeds Metropolitan University, rose through the amateur league ranks to the verge of semi-pro level and were even given a prestigious award by the Football Association.
They quickly progressed through the divisions of the Leeds Red Triangle League and West Yorkshire Old Boys League, with the West Riding County FA naming them Adult Charter Standard Club of the Year in 2006 and 2008.
Sam said: "People really got behind us during the last time and we had a lot of support.
"Hopefully people will rally round us again because we won't go down
without a fight."
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Saturday 04 February 2012
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