The former England footballer Les Ferdinand joined Bunhill residents on 20 November in a bid to save their football pitches from being moved under the Finsbury Leisure Centre (FLC) redevelopment plan.
To tackle the borough’s housing crisis, Islington Council plans to build 198 homes on the FLC site. The four football pitches onsite would be moved to the rooftop of the new leisure centre.
After a game of football at the FLC with young members of the City of London Football Club, the football coach and former QPR and Spurs striker joined a peaceful protest.
Ferdinand accompanied children and locals as they marched around the area, holding placards and chanting: “Save our pitch!”
In a statement, Ferdinand spoke of the importance of protecting local sports facilities for young people: “Instead of searching for trouble and carrying knives, we [my peers and I] played with each other and carried a football.
“All that was possible because there was a space for us to do it.”
The protest was organised by EC1VOICES, a coalition of residents and sports groups campaigning for an alternative, community-led proposal for the site.
Uliana Dubrovina, an EC1VOICES member, said only two out of 100 local football players she surveyed supported the proposal.
Most players felt the rooftop location would be too “restrictive” and “exclusive”, and were concerned the new pitches would be smaller.
The council said the new football pitches will meet the FA standard, but it could not confirm whether they would be reduced in size.
Harsha Chavda, who has lived in Bunhill for over 20 years, is also worried the proposed high-rise building will block light to her flat.
“They are going to block sunlight, and once it’s gone, it’s gone. We’ll be put into fuel poverty, which we’re already in,” she said.
According to the council, the leisure centre, built in 1975 and last refurbished in 2004, is “no longer fit for purpose and needs urgent investment.”
The proposal also includes a new building for the local GP surgery and a public courtyard garden.
A spokesperson from Islington Council said: “Residents are strongly encouraged to submit their comments on the planning application on the Islington Council website.”
Priya is an MA Newspaper Journalism student, covering the Bunhill ward in Islington. She has previously written for the Guardian and the Wall Street Journal, where she reported on industrial action, arts and culture, the UK general election, and more.