England and Chelsea defender Lucy Bronze has community pavilion named in her honour

Lucy Bronze has officially opened a community pavilion named after her at her grassroots club Alnwick Town Juniors FC, in honour of the part she played in the Lionesses lifting the UEFA Women’s EUROs trophy in 2022 and the historic run to the FIFA Women’s World Cup Final in 2023. 

The Lucy Bronze Pavillion was refurbished thanks to £3.4k from The Premier League, The FA and Government’s Football Foundation to fund repairs to their changing pavilion. The pavilion suffered severe damage in storms in February 2022 and Alnwick Juniors applied to the Football Foundation’s Storm Relief Fund to help with bringing the pavilion back to the community. 

The Lucy Bronze Pavillion is one of over 30 Football Foundation-funded facilities that are being named after each of the Lionesses to honour their victory at the UEFA Women’s EUROs and their inspirational performance at the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup.  

The number of girls participating in the sport has doubled over the last four years from 1.2m in 2020/21 to 2.7m in 2024/25. However, facilities and conditions have put women and girls off taking to the pitch.  

The newly refurbished pavilion will provide a safe and welcoming space for women and girls to prepare for and wind down from their football matches and training.  

The new changing facility will provide a significant boost to sport in the local area and provides a welcoming space for the 23 teams at Alnwick Town Juniors FC, alongside the Newcastle United Foundation, Alnwick Rugby Club, Alnmouth Football Club adults and juniors, Rothbury Adults, Alnwick Town FCand local schools who use the facility for regular training and match sessions.  

The club also received £410k towards the construction of a floodlit 3G pitch in 2018, which the women and girls using The Lucy Bronze Pavilion will be able to benefit from, whatever the weather or time of day.

 

“It is such an honour to come home to a club that I played at when I was a kid and officially open what is going to be a great community facility. 

Lucy Bronze
England and Chelsea Defender

“Too often I would have to go into the boys changing rooms before and after a game or training to get changed. I love that the girls here will never need to share with the boys and have their own space where they will feel comfortable and safe. Hopefully this will mean they have more focus and confidence on the pitch!

“Hearing from them all about how much the Lionesses’ success has meant to them has been really special. I am so happy they have access to such a tip tier facility that will enable them to enjoy the game more and more.” 

The legacy pitches from the Lionesses’ recent successes form a key part of the Football Foundation’s HERe To Play campaign, which celebrates the charity’s commitment to delivering grassroots facilities that provide equal access to women and girls.  

Jack Matthews, Director of Programmes at the Football Foundation said:

“Seeing Lucy open this great new facility for the local community, right where she started playing is incredibly special.  

“Many of the squad from that trophy lifting team in 2022 kick-started their journey to the international stage on facilities that have been improved thanks to funding from the Premier League, The FA and Government’s Football Foundation.

“This year, the Football Foundation is directing more money than ever before into supporting the grassroots game and every one of the facilities we fund will provide equal access for women and girls.” 

Louise Jones, Chairperson at Alnwick Town Juniors FC, said:

“We are so honoured that Lucy has accepted this opportunity to come back to Alnwick and name our club house after her. 

“There are so many girls in our town look up to Lucy. This encourages them to never give up and keep going.

“A lot has changed since Lucy played at Alnwick, we have 23 teams - 8 are female teams, 45 coaches, we’ve added a club house and 3G pitch, no more field and a yellow container to get changed in.