Seat installation begins at Eagles community stadium

The Community Stadium at Sheffield Olympic Legacy Park reached another important milestone this week as the very first seat was installed in the grandstand.

Purpose built for community use by leading developer and investor, Scarborough Group International (SGI), the 758-seater stadium, rising to 3,900 in future development phases, will also serve as the home of Betfred Championship rugby league team, the Sheffield Eagles, who recently announced a five-year partnership with SGI.

The ceremony, was attended by representatives from SGI and the Sheffield Eagles, including Stephen Marriott, Operators Director at SGI and Mark Aston, CEO at Sheffield Eagles.

To mark the occasion, SGI also released an illustration of the seating layout, which features a unique speckled effect consisting of red, green, yellow, white and black seats, that gives the stadium a modern feel and is sure to build up the atmosphere on event days.

The stadium is due to be completed in March 2022 with Sheffield Eagles playing their first home game at the Community Stadium against London Broncos on Friday 15 April 2022.

In addition to the three-storey, covered grandstand and ancillary facilities, the stadium also features 23,000 sq ft of commercial space, including four ground-floor retail units and two upper floors of flexible workspace and hospitality space.

Stephen Marriott, operations director for Scarborough Group International, said: “It’s been incredible to watch the Stadium rise from the ground into what you see today and I can’t wait for the local community and visitors to be able to sit here in these seats and enjoy the sporting and community events that will be hosted in this state-of-the-art venue.”

Mark Hannigan, commercial director at Sheffield Eagles, commented: “To see the first seat installed marks a huge day for the club and specifically our fans who will occupy these seats on gameday. It has been a long time since we had a place to call home but that is now just around the corner.”