Richard Hercock: Don Valley’s closure is a symbol of GB’s failure to deliver legacy

Don Valley Stadium finally closed its doors last month and it’s something that filled me with sadness.

Not sadness for concrete and grass – probably bulldozed to make way for Ikea or something like that – but sadness for the short-sighted decision to deny the city’s youngsters a better place to live.

It all comes back to that great word ‘legacy’. We were all told before, during and after last year’s Olympics how the greatest sporting event in the world would leave behind a footprint which would allow future generations to prosper.

Last summer I took my four-year-old son to Wembley Stadium on ‘Fantastic Friday’, my term as it came before ‘Super Saturday/Sunday’.

I wanted him to see Jessica Ennis, who like him was born and raised in the Steel City, and watch an athlete at the pinnacle of their sport.

She, and many others, made the nation proud. My son was sleeping as Ennis gained iconic status, the day-trip to London catching up with him, but that didn’t matter. He was there as heptathlon gold came home to Yorkshire.

A true sporting hero, Ennis earned her stripes at Don Valley as a young aspiring athlete. My son, just like all his classmates and thousands of other children in the city, has been denied that opportunity.

I am not an accountant, and Sheffield City Council’s figures simply didn’t add up to keep Don Valley’s doors open. The nearby Woodburn Road centre has been revamped but it’s like closing Old Trafford and asking Manchester United to play at Gigg Lane. It’s not quite the same.

I must admit, being a Sheffield Council Tax payer these past two decades, I have always felt it was a badge of honour that I have been helping to pay off the debts from the World Student Games.

This was why Don Valley Stadium was originally built back in 1991. People outside Sheffield look at me with cynicism when I say it, but I felt it was a price worth paying. And still do.

If we want a city to be proud of – to live up to the so-called tag of City of Sport – then we have to invest in our future. Don Valley is a symbol of failure on our part.

Over the years, I have fond memories of the stadium. I watched Def Leppard’s homecoming gig in 1993 – the first rock concert to be held in the bowl-like arena – along with 50,000 fans.

Others like U2, Rolling Stones, Michael Jackson and even the Spice Girls graced the stadium over the years.

Of course, though, sport was the stadium’s first love.

Championship champions Sheffield Eagles are now looking for a new home, a disgraceful scenario for Mark Aston’s side who have brought immense pride to the city over the years, mostly against the odds.

I first saw the Eagles play at Owlerton Stadium in the mid-Eighties, and it would be a shame if they were to go full circle and head back to a venue more associated with dog racing and speedway.

Don Valley came to Rotherham United’s rescue when the Millers left Millmoor, and although it never really felt like a football arena, it was a place they could call home.

But like most tenants, the Millers moved on and bought their own home.

I was there on August 29 1993, when Jan Zelezny threw 95.66m in the javelin, to create a new world record. That to me is a sporting legacy, a true ‘I was there’ moment.

However successful Woodburn Road will be – and I hope it prospers as the city desperately needs it to – will it ever achieve such moments in history?

Over the years the old chestnut of merging the city’s two football clubs, Wednesday and United, and starting afresh at Don Valley has done the rounds.

Laughable of course, and preposterous. Personally, I don’t think it would ever happen, and should never happen.

But, put a proposal in front of me where Don Valley had been transformed into a 50,000 all-seater stadium, both Bramall Lane and Hillsborough sold off, and the Owls and Blades groundshare a la San Siro and it’s worth considering. Never going to happen, of course, but always a good talking point in the pub. Better than talking about the current footballing fortunes of the two clubs at least.

Both clubs have struggled. I understand the reasons why David Weir was sacked, but you will struggle to meet a finer gentleman in a manager’s office. For me, both teams are desperate for another striker.

Wednesday brought in Matty Fryatt, United secured Marlon King and both have already found the net in their short time at their new home.

But, such is the lightweight attack at both sides of the city, another striker each is my remedy which will see them both climb away from the wrong end of the table.

I digress.

So could Don Valley have been saved?

I have a Utopian plan where every school in the city could have been allocated a few hours each week to go and utilise the stadium’s facilities.

Imagine how awe-inspiring for our children to share the same stage as their sporting heroes, like gold medallist Ennis.

To utlise the track and field facilities at Don Valley, it would help make up for the dwindling opportunities that young people have on the sporting front.

Unfortunately, and I accept the council have had to make tough decisions, that will never come to fruition.

And there comes the sadness again.

You can bet your last penny, if Team GB fail to replicate their success in London at the next Olympics, we will have inquests into what went wrong.

Well, closing one of this country’s best athletics venues hardly helped our cause did it?

and another thing...

Covering South Yorkshire’s football clubs, I must admit to being pretty depressed following the start of this season.

That’s mainly due to the appalling campaigns so far from Sheffield’s two great rivals – Wednesday and United.

The Owls have yet to taste victory after a dozen games, while the Blades have not won inside 90 minutes since they beat 10-man Notts County on the Friday evening of the opening weekend.

I remember that night, full of optimism. Where has it gone?

Barnsley are no better than Wednesday, as David Flitcroft struggles to bring that siege mentality back to Oakwell after their survival scrap last year.

The arrival of strikers Theo Robinson and Fererico Macheda has improved Doncaster Rovers’ fortunes in the Championship and that is credit to manager Paul Dickov and a supportive boardroom.

But the club who have really impressed me this season is Rotherham United. Love him or loathe him, Millers manager Steve Evans has done a cracking job after promotion to League One.

Rotherham are in the play-off places, play attractive football and there is a feel-good factor around town which money cannot buy.