'White Elephant' Don and Dusted

The sun is setting on Don Valley, much to the despair of Minnichielo and Ennis

For many years now, it has felt like the Don Valley Stadium was neither one thing “nor t’other,” as locals in the north-east area of Sheffield, would say.

The 25,000 capacity multi-purpose venue has, after construction for the 1991 World Student Games, probably been too versatile for its own good.

No one really belongs at Don Valley. Sheffield Eagles Rugby League Club have used it sparingly, Rotherham United Football Club used it as a stop-gap while their own ground was been built, and the general consensus was that many Millers hated it.

The place is grey and bleak. Its soulless and cold, which is best explained by the fact that only a quarter of the arena has the most basic of facilities; a roof.

The decision, therefore, by Sheffield City Council to close the facility down would seem straightforward and no one would kick up a fuss, certainly not when presented with the balance sheet.

The training facility of Olympic gold medallist and ‘local girl done good’ Jessica Ennis has been subsidised to the tune of £700,000 per annum.

Whichever way you dress it up, that’s a lot of money when not a lot else goes on at the place. It’s costly, inefficient and unsustainable.

It’s also downright cold hearted too!

Ennis’ coach Toni Minichiello has described the shutdown as “pathetic” and said that athletics in Sheffield “is dead.”

Where is the legacy that the London 2012 Olympic Games stood for? People, athletes, champions like Ennis were supposed to ‘inspire a generation’. 

Kids would see Ennis and harangue their parents in to buying them a pair of spikes so they could dash off in to the sunset and become future Olympians.

Stop! It doesn’t work like that. Athletics is not a popular sport in Britain unfortunately and any remaining legacy will surely be of a social, rather than physical, nature.

The alternative for Ennis is to move one mile down the road to the Woodburn Road facility, which is due to have £150,000 upgrade and £70,000 per year running cost. Or focus more on the fantastic English Institute of Sport indoor centre a javelin's throw away.

Simple, boring economics have taken over here and the white elephant that is Don Valley will be no more. It might take a bit of time getting used to but the rationale here is right.