At the Armory gym in north London, they are still offering yoga for the visually impaired, free classes for seniors and free membership for the homeless. All the important and inclusive stuff, in short, that leisure centres should offer to their communities. But when the not-for-profit organisation that runs the gym stares at its balance sheet, and particularly the additional £350,000 on its annual energy bill, it wonders how it is going to survive.
Sadly there is nothing especially noteworthy about the Armory’s story. It is one replicated up and down the land. But when I learned about its struggles, on the same day that the Premier League kicked and screamed against a new football regulator, it neatly illustrated a tale of two sporting Britains. One awash with money from billionaires and dubious petro-states wanting to blunt government intervention. The other desperately pleading for help while trying not to go under.
