New home for Eagles

1st June, 2025

Eccleshill United have announced that, from the start of the 2025/26 season, their NCEL Premier Division side will be playing its home games at Cougar Park, home of the Keighley Cougars.

The club says that the move forms part of their long-term strategy to ensure not only their survival but that it also achieves the objective of being a sustainable football club while continuing to be competitive on the field and expanding its community engagement.

Chair Sally Smith-Butler said in a statement: "We have pursued every possible avenue to try and make the club self-sustainable and unfortunately, despite our hard work, efforts and money, none of these avenues have come to fruition.

"For many years, we have struggled to generate sufficient income via gate receipts etc. to cover the running costs of the club.

"The fact that we have never had a bar has also had a significant effect on the potential income generation for the club.

"The bar at Kingsway is owned by a separate organisation which is nothing to do with the football club.

"Therefore, as you can imagine, the running costs have been significantly more than the income generated so we have found ourselves in a position where we had to take some serious action to ensure the survival of the club.

"It is important for the club sustainability that we have a long-term vision that would allow the club to not only survive but to progress on the field and become self-sustainable.

"This exciting opportunity to move to Cougar Park will help us achieve that.

"The facilities on offer at Cougar Park are significantly better than those at Kingsway so this will enable all visitors to enjoy a better experience.

"At Cougar Park, the club will benefit from a very nice modern pitchside bar, food and drink sales, corporate hospitality and a club shop.

"The stadium itself has a capacity of 7,800 so we are hoping to fill that one day!!

"We are pleased to confirm that manager Lee Elam and his backroom staff remain committed to the club and we continue to support Lee in the club’s progression."

Kaue Garcia, MD of the Keighley Cougars, added: "We are pleased to welcome Eccleshill United to Cougar Park and look forward to working closely with Sally, Lee and all of the team off and on the pitch in delivering a strategically aligned plan for the benefit of the whole of Keighley.

"This is just the beginning of a long-term relationship that will continue to develop and deepen over time.

"We look forward to seeing what the future holds for sport in Keighley."

(Story Source: Eccleshill United)

NCEL Premier Division			P	Pts	+/-
P	1	Silsden AFC	38	86	38
P	2	Hallam	38	77	52
	3	Golcar United	38	72	39
	4	Beverley Town	38	68	19
	5	Thackley	38	67	27
	6	Albion Sports (-3)	38	65	26
	7	Handsworth	38	61	15
	8	Penistone Church	38	56	13
	9	Campion	38	53	0
	10	Pickering Town	38	53	-2
	11	Parkgate	38	52	-11
	12	Knaresborough	38	49	2
	13	Rossington Main	38	49	-2
	14	Barton Town	38	49	-7
	15	Eccleshill United	38	44	-14
	16	Bottesford Town	38	44	-24
	17	Tadcaster Albion	38	37	-18
	18	Frickley Athletic	38	33	-33
R	19	Winterton Rangers	38	27	-52
R	20	Goole AFC	38	27	-68

NCEL Division One			P	Pts	+/-
P	1	Horbury Town	42	95	67
P	2	Wombwell Town	42	94	66
	3	Wakefield AFC	42	91	63
	4	Dearne & District	42	84	47
	5	Ilkley Town	42	76	21
	6	Worsbrough Bridge	42	70	7
	7	Brigg Town	42	69	37
	8	Selby Town	42	69	9
	9	South Leeds	42	65	13
	10	Maltby Main	42	64	5
	11	Club Thorne Colliery	42	62	12
	12	Harrogate Railway	42	60	8
	13	Armthorpe Welfare	42	51	-11
	14	Glasshoughton Welf	42	49	-16
	15	Louth Town	42	49	-20
	16	Swallownest	42	47	-35
	17	Shelley	42	46	-22
	18	Athersley Rec	42	44	-27
	19	Nostell MW	42	37	-32
	20	Dronfield Town (-3)	42	32	-36
	21	Appleby Frodingham (-3)	42	30	-61
R	22	Yorkshire Amateur	42	16	-95

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