PUS Stop | |
 Interior of the stadium, May 2008 | |
 Interactive map of The Progress With Unity Stadium | |
| Former names | Leigh Sports Village (2008–2025) |
|---|---|
| Address | United Kingdom[1] |
| Location | Leigh,Greater Manchester, England WN7 4GX |
| Coordinates | 53°29′28″N2°31′44″W / 53.491°N 2.529°W /53.491; -2.529 |
| Owner |
|
| Operator | Leigh Sports Village Company Ltd |
| Capacity | 12,000[4] |
| Record attendance | 12,005 Widnes Vikings vsCastleford Tigers 10 August 2014[3] |
| Surface | Desso GrassMaster |
| Construction | |
| Built | 2007–2008 |
| Opened | 28 December 2008 |
| Construction cost | £17.5m[2] |
| Main contractors | Hall Construction[2] |
| Tenants | |
| Rugby League Leigh Leopards (2008–present) Football Leigh Genesis (2009–2010) Blackburn Rovers Reserves (2009–2015) Manchester United Reserves (2014–present) Manchester United Women (2018–present) | |
The Progress With Unity Stadium, is a multi-use sports,[5] retail and housing development inLeigh, Greater Manchester, England. The centrepiece of the development is a 12,000-capacity stadium which is home to professional rugby league teamLeigh Leopards, theManchester United Women's senior team, andManchester United's men's Under-21 and Academy teams. The complex also plays host to amateur rugby league clubLeigh East and amateur athletics club Leigh Harriers, who both occupy dedicated facilities on the site. Other facilities on site include the Leigh campus ofWigan and Leigh College, Leigh Sports Centre, which includes a gym, multi-use sports hall and swimming pool, aHoliday Inn Express hotel, aMorrisons supermarket and the Whistling Wren pub. During 2022, it hosted matches in theUEFA Women's Euro 2022.
Leigh Sports Village is a development southwest of Leigh town centre, on the south side of the Leigh arm of theLeeds and Liverpool Canal, close toPennington Flash Country Park and accessed from the A579, Atherleigh Way and by pedestrian routes from the town and surrounding area. It is also close to theA580 "East Lancashire Road". The scheme was initially developed to contribute to the regeneration of Leigh and provide modern facilities for local sports clubs, schools and the local community.[6]
The main focus of the sports village is the stadium built for local professional sports clubs and its associated facilities. It is all seating in the West, East and South Stands with standing in the North Stand. There is a 25-metre swimming pool, gymnasia and activity rooms and a sports hall used by the sports clubs, college and the local community. A synthetic 400-metre (440 yd) running track, covered training facility and field sports area was built for Leigh Harriers and Athletic Club. Amateur rugby league club, Leigh East ARLFC has a clubhouse at the Leigh Sports Village Arena.[6]
Leigh College occupy a site on the stadium perimeter and share sports and youth facilities. To make the project commercially viable, retail and commercial premises, housing and a hotel were built on the site close to Atherleigh Way.[6]
Roads on the Sports Village site are named after three local sporting personalities:Tommy Sale,Jimmy Ledgard and Geoff Turner.[7]The roads are Sale Way, home to the stadium, sixth form college and sports centre, Turner Way address of Leigh Harriers Athletics Club, whilst Ledgard Avenue accommodates the new Leigh East clubhouse.
Two ramp-up events were held during December 2008 to fulfil safety certification requirements. A children's rugby league festival was held on 14 December 2008 as the first event, rescheduled from the previous week because of a frozen pitch.[8]After a successful first event, the crowd capacity was set at 4,775. A sell-out crowd of 4,714 sawLeigh versusSalford on 28 December 2008.[9][10]
Leigh Sports Village was officially opened on Thursday 21 May 2009, byQueen Elizabeth II and theDuke of Edinburgh.[11]
Leigh Sports Village was included in theLondon 2012 Pre-Games Training Camp Guide. The facility was available for use by competing nations as a training camp before theLondon 2012Olympic Games. Though officials negotiated with theUkrainian Olympic team, no nation chose to base athletes at Leigh Sports Village.[12]
On 27 July 2013, the stadium staged its first Rugby LeagueChallenge Cup semi-final between Wigan and London Broncos.
On Tuesday 5 November, the stadium hosted theRugby League World Cup 2013 Tonga versus Cook Islands tie, which was won by Tonga 22–16 in front of a then stadium record crowd of 10,544.[13] This attendance was surpassed on Sunday 11 August when the semi-final of the Challenge Cup saw an attendance of 12,005 witness Castleford defeat Widnes 28–6.[3]
On Saturday 21 June 2014, SirElton John and his band played in front of 17,000 fans[14] in one of only three announced UK venues for hisFollow the Yellow Brick Road Tour.
In October 2015, England took on France in a warm-up match before their end-of-year test series against New Zealand.[15]
The stadium was one of the ten venues used to host matches at theUEFA Women's Euro 2022. It was used to hostGroup C matches, alongsideBramall Lane, and a quarter-final.[16]
| Date | Team 1 | Result | Team 2 | Attendance | Competition |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 9 July 2022 |  Portugal | 2–2 |  Switzerland | 5,902 | UEFA Women's Euro 2022 Group C |
| 13 July 2022 |  Netherlands | 3–2 | Portugal | 6,966 | UEFA Women's Euro 2022 Group C |
| 17 July 2022 |  Sweden | 5–0 | Portugal | 7,118 | UEFA Women's Euro 2022 Group C |
| 22 July 2022 | Sweden | 1–0 |  Belgium | 7,517 | UEFA Women's Euro 2022 Quarter Final |
The Leigh Sports Village has hosted fourEngland internationals,[17] in addition to hosting a further five test matches not featuring England.
The first two non-England matches were part of the2013 and2017 Rugby League World Cup. The 2013 game was part of the competition proper and was an inter-group match betweenTonga andCook Islands on 5 November 2013. The game saw 10,554 in attendance, and Tonga won 22–16. The 2017 game was part of the qualifying stages. The match was betweenItaly andRussia on Friday 4 November 2016, with the winner securing the 14th and final berth in the tournament in Australasia. Four hundred and fifty people were in attendance as Italy took the final World Cup spot with a 76–0 hammering.
Leigh Sports Village also hosted three group games in the2021 Rugby League World Cup, held in 2022.
| Date | Team 1 | Result | Team 2 | Attendance | Competition |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 12 June 2010 |  England | 60–6 |  France | 7,951 | Test match |
| 29 October 2011 | England | 42–4 | France | 10,377 | 2011 Four Nations |
| 5 November 2013 |  Tonga | 22–16 |  Cook Islands | 10,554 | 2013 Rugby League World Cup |
| 24 October 2015 | England | 84–4Archived 26 October 2015 at theWayback Machine | France | 8,380 | Test match |
| 4 November 2016 |  Italy | 76–0 |  Russia | 450 | 2017 Rugby League World Cup qualifying |
| 17 October 2018 | England | 44–6 | France | 5,144 | Test match |
| 19 October 2022 |  Wales | 12–18 | Cook Islands | 6,188 | 2021 Rugby League World Cup |
| 23 October 2022 |  Lebanon | 34–14 |  Ireland | 6,057 | |
| 30 October 2022 | Lebanon | 74–12 |  Jamaica | 5,006 |
Facilities available at Leigh Sports Village include:[5]
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The site is operated by Leigh Sports Village Company on behalf of Wigan Council – owners of the stadium, athletic stadium and clubhouse, swimming pool and sports centre, rugby league clubhouse and 3G pitches. Wigan Leisure and Culture Trust operate Leigh Indoor Sports Centre. Along with the general public, use of artificial and grass pitches, sports hall, gymnasium and swimming pool, the Leigh Sports Village site has several long-term tenants.
