Image: bb + c architects
Grange Road Ground
Image: bb + c architects
Image: bb + c architects
Image: bb + c architects
Image: bb + c architects
A thriving year-round venue for a range of sports and a home for rugby and football.
The Grange Road Ground is home to thousands of cherished sporting memories. As Cambridge Sport grows in breadth and impact, we want to build on this heritage and ensure that as many students as possible experience the life-enhancing benefits of sporting activity.
Our vision is to transform the Ground into a thriving year-round venue that enables a greater range of sports to be played including, rugby union, football, rugby league, Australian rules, and American football.
Development of the Ground will provide a much-needed, modern, multi-sport facility, in a very accessible, central location near most Colleges. It will enhance competitive sports playing and help promote physical wellbeing for students and the wider Cambridge community.
Creating a first-class sporting facility for a world-class university
Transforming the historic University Football Ground on Grange Road sits at the heart of the University of Cambridge Strategy for Sport and Physical Activity 2023-2027. It will contribute significantly to participation and quality of experience for all students, from the Blues teams to College sports and individuals for whom sport is relatively new or inaccessible.
Participating in team sports has been an integral part of my time here in Cambridge. It has provided me with such a supportive community and been an important outlet to destress after hard days of study. Through my time on both the football and rugby pitches, I have been lucky enough to build lifelong friendships and a great sense of belonging, as well as achieve in my sporting endeavours.
However, after 6 years of committee meetings and speaking to my fellow students it is clear that there is a large deficit in the facilities available for these teams and many others. Large amounts of time are spent trying to find suitable facilities that are ultimately inaccessible for many students, and often not appropriate for all-year training purposes.
The time is right for a refresh
The Pavilion is growing old, with health and safety requirements becoming more difficult to maintain. The time is right for a refresh of this superbly located and much-beloved venue.
The University is firmly committed to offering students a broad education at the highest international levels of excellence, but the UK higher education sector is grappling with a funding crisis, and the University’s costs are currently rising faster than income. Philanthropic partnerships have been vital to Cambridge’s success throughout its history and will be critical in delivering the vision for the Grange Road Ground.
A transformative start
Thanks to significant generosity and hard work, the new Mumford Pitch is now up and running, officially opening on 7 November 2025.
The new pitch has been hugely well received and has already been transformative for sport at Cambridge. CUAFC have returned to play at Grange Road and have a home there for the first time since the 1970s , CURUFC can now accommodate all the players, lacrosse, rugby league, American Football and Australian Rules will also all have time playing there.
College football and rugby are playing matches at the Ground and the University’s ‘Active Students’ programme is attracting many more sign-ups than it expected helped by the opportunity to play on a new pitch. The University kicked off this term with a beginner women’s football tournament on the new pitch in late January and attracted a great turnout despite cold conditions. If we offer high quality training grounds, then students will definitely play: 6 teams and around 70 students played on the day. The University is now also launching new small sided leagues for both men and women.
The new pitch now supports up to 70 to 80 hours of sport a week versus the 6 that was being played there when it was grass.
The Community are also now looking to use the Ground, and it was announced on 25 February that Cambridge United Women’s Team will make Grange Road their home. This affirms a new partnership between the University and Cambridge United and is hugely positive for women’s sport: https://www.cam.ac.uk/news/cambridge-united-women-to-play-in-cambridge-for-first-time-with-move-to-cambridge-universitys-grange.
What comes next
The impact of the new pitch makes completing the rest of phase 1 even more vital. This phase requires funding of approximately £720,000 of which £260,000 has already been found through a further commitment of £150,000 from the University and £110,000 from CURUFC and other donors. This leaves us needing £460,000 to see the project delivered.
This funding involves an eastern extension and alterations to the main pavilion and will create:
- larger and upgraded changing facilities, which are currently very tired, to accommodate 2 squads of 23 players each;
- easier and embedded ambulant access to medical treatment, which currently flows out into the entrance area of the pavilion; and
- improved disabled access to watch matches and enter the building.
The completion of phase 1 is clearly critically important given the huge increase in use and numbers of students and community coming to the Ground.
A wider impact
Improved facilities will also enable festival and finals events for College rugby union and football to go ahead, helping to sustain important activity programmes and encouraging players to participate and feel a greater connection to the University sporting landscape. The updated and easily reached facilities will encourage more people to watch games and enjoy the much-improved Ground. An increased number and wider variety of players and spectators using the venue benefits ancillary facilities, increasing revenue through bar and catering outlets.
These upgrades will continue to have a positive environmental impact by increasing energy efficiency, and all developments of the Ground will include a biodiversity net gain contribution as required by the planning process.
Next steps
The delivery of the proposed transformation of the Ground will enable this sporting legacy to continue to develop over the next 100 years. If you are passionate about sport and its power in promoting personal development, supporting wellbeing, and building community, please support this initiative.
You can donate online or to discuss your philanthropic goals we would be delighted to have a conversation with you. For further information, please contact:
Make a gift now
Make a gift now to support Grange Road Sports Ground by credit or debit card, or set up a direct debit:
Or, find out about other ways to give.
Derek Wilson
Head of Development, Sport, Music Performance, Clubs and Societies
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Philanthropic giving is at the heart of the success of the Collegiate University, enabling us to make discoveries that change the world and to ensure that our students receive an unrivalled education. Cambridge owes its world-leading excellence in research and teaching to the generosity of its supporters. Our history is synonymous with a history of far-sighted benefaction, and the same is as true today as it has ever been.
