Sector Focus


Sport The Business of Sport Fore!: the Brabazon Stadium works ‘on time’


Belfry to host British Masters


The Belfry has been chosen as the venue for the British Masters golf tournament in 2021. The event will run between


12-15 May. The British Masters is one of the events on the calendar of the Professional Golfers’ Association (PGA) ‘European Tour’. The European Tour is the


means by which professional golfers earn their income, and it is mostly staged in Europe. It is considered the second most important tour in golf, after the rival USA tour. The golfer-run PGA is also a


partner in the Ryder Cup. This year’s British Masters


will be the fourth at The Belfry, which also hosted the event between 2006-8. The Belfry is best known for


hosting the Ryder Cup, which it has hosted on four occasions, the last being in 2002. Last year, the Belfry staged


the ISPS Handa UK Championship in August 2020, a one-off event which was part of what was known as the ‘UK swing’, which was created as part of major changes to the European Tour because of the coronavirus crisis. The British Masters will be


hosted by former Masters champion Danny Willett and will take place on The Belfry’s Brabazon course. As well as the Ryder Cup,


the Brabazon has been used for 17 European Tour events. Belfry general manager Chris


Eigelaar said: “It is a huge honour to welcome the British Masters back to The Belfry. “The ISPS Handa UK Championship was the first European Tour event we have hosted in many years and we are very proud to once again host another first-class event and add to The Belfry’s rich golfing heritage.”


82 CHAMBERLINK February 2021


Works to redevelop Alexander Stadium in Perry Barr for the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games are “on time and on programme”. Dave Wagg, project and client manager, strategic sport, Birmingham City Council, made the announcement at a Games stakeholder event. Mr Wagg, alongside Paul


Robertson, senior project manager at Mace, which is managing the revamp of the stadium, showed guests around the ongoing redevelopment works, which started in May. He said: “We are on budget and


we are on programme. We were set an original £72m budget to deliver this stadium, and we are in budget to deliver this stadium within that £72m envelope. “We were set a target of handing


this over to the organising committee on 1 April 2022, and we still intend to do that.” To get the Alexander Stadium


ready for sporting events in 2022, a new West Stand is being constructed, as well as new-tiered seating to the north and south. Permanent and temporary


seating structures will bump seat capacity up to around 30,000.


Redevelopment: the Alexander stadium


A new warm up and infield track


will also be installed as part of works. The facilities are intended to


provide more accessible space to locals, after the Games end, Mr Wagg said. He said: “The open and accessible site that in legacy will rip away some of the black concrete and tarmac, and actually make it a stadium in a park setting, with running, cycling and walking routes, with security in mind for people to actually access. And that’s key. “It is about informal sport on


these areas, and about people wanting to come to the park, come in and out of the stadium and kick a football round, run, cycle or to do a yoga class.” Mr Robertson explained that the Games’ legacy starts with the


ongoing construction works at the stadium. He said: “A huge amount of


investment has gone in from the Birmingham City Council, and the project team, to supporting local groups, communities and vulnerable people on how the construction works can benefit those groups.” Funding for the Alexander


Stadium redevelopment comes from three sources: Birmingham City Council (£27.4m), the Greater Birmingham and Solihull Local Enterprise Partnership (£20m) and West Midlands Combined Authority (£25m). The overall project cost is part of the local contribution to the overall Commonwealth Games budget (£184m of the £778m total).


Wolves staff boost cancer charity


Wolverhampton Wanderers’ medical department have once again used the festive period to raise vital funds for national blood cancer charity Cure Leukaemia. This time, medical staff from the Premier League


outfit have raised more than £5,500 through a series of memorabilia auctions and raffles in the lead up to Christmas.


Their ‘12 Days of Christmas’ fundraiser saw a host of


money-can’t-buy items available to Wolves fans through online raffles and auctions setup by Cure Leukaemia - including signed match-worn Rui Patricio goalkeeper gloves, an Adama Traore signed shirt and signed boots from star Mexican striker Raul Jimenez. Their efforts follow the £11,045 they raised in


December 2019 when three members of the team ran 10km every day during the busy festive football programme. Their inspiration to support the charity comes from


the club’s former goalkeeper Carl Ikeme who was diagnosed with blood cancer in the summer of 2017. Shortly after Carl was diagnosed, the Wolves fans


and staff mobilized in support of their goalkeeper - raising more than £150,000 for Cure Leukaemia. It enabled the charity to complete the funding


required to expand the clinical haematology (CCH) unit at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Birmingham. Three years later, the Wolves medical department,


led by Danny Fishwick, and fans of the club continue to support the charity. All funds raised from the ‘12 Days of Christmas’


Fundraiser: flying winger Adama Traore and his signed shirt


initiative will go towards funding specialist research nurses across the UK. Danny Fishwick said: “We are delighted to have


raised such a fantastic amount for Cure Leukaemia from these raffles and auctions.”


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