Campaigners who have fought for years to prevent houses from being built on a famous football pitch in Leeds are celebrating after winning a landmark court appeal.
Leeds United legends David Batty, Noel Whelan and Paul Madeley all played for the infamous Leeds City Boys club at the T.V. Harrison Ground as youngsters, but the pitches were left to go to ruin after years of neglect.
The land then came under threat after the council planned to sell it off to developers.
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Locals have fought fiercely to protect the ground in recent years though and have transformed 'Wortley Wembley' back into community football pitches.
Now they have won a third successive appeal, with a High Court judge ruling the fields should be designated an asset of community value.
Michael Meadowcroft, chairman of the T.V. Harrison Sports Ground campaign group, told LeedsLive: "The local community rose up in anger when the council wanted to change the land use for housing, but this is the third legal victory in a row.
"It is a champagne moment for us."
Leeds City Council has been ordered to pay more than £23,000 in legal fees.
If no other court challenges are lodged in the next three weeks, it will mean the use of the land cannot be changed to become housing and it must be offered for sale.
The T.V. Harrison Sports Ground campaign group already have grand plans to build a netball court, five-a-side football pitches and a community pavilion on the site if they can raise enough money to buy the land.
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"These are very positive steps in our campaign to retain the sports ground and to begin to implement our plans to bring the whole site into use as a sports and community facility," added Michael.
"Once Leeds City Council has formally accepted the court’s decision, we will look forward to working with local schools, sports clubs and community associations to bring the whole ground into full use as soon as possible."
In 2019, local businessman Arron Lambert told LeedsLive about the unique heritage of the site.
"It's a massive sporting historical place," he said.
"The fact that so many Leeds United players have come through here should count for something.
"The history of it is so rich.
"This ground was the Wembley of Leeds for a long time. It was second only to Elland Road for a lot of young players, such was its importance."
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