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#DYC On the pitch, off the pitch

#DYC On the pitch, off the pitch – Collecting Sport in Leeds is a National Lottery Heritage Fund project recognising the important place of sport in the culture of Leeds. It will increase representation of sports in Leeds Museums and Galleries and across the City and create connections between collections and the city’s public spaces. 

 

We’ll be sharing our progress, outputs and collections on this page. 

You can already see:

  •  Blogs about our sports collections
  •  Photographs from past outreach events run with the Sporting Heritage volunteers
  • Photographs of objects we’ve collected as part of this project 

You can expect to see:

  •  Photographs of murals and sculptures featuring sport from around City
  • Photographs of club signs from sports clubs across Leeds
  • Photographs from more outreach events run with the Sporting Heritage volunteers
  • Photographs of even more sports objects collected as part of the project
  •  Blogs about collections and Leeds sports
  • Oral histories from people involved in sport in Leeds
  • Films featuring different outdoor activities across the City 

Do you have an idea of a sports club or person we should be focussing on with this project? Or do you want to become part of our volunteer steering group? Get in touch with Project Curator Catherine Robins:

catherine.robins@leeds.gov.uk 

Sports Art Photography

Photographs of murals and sculptures relating to sport from across the City, taken in 2022. We wanted to find a way of representing some of the brilliant sport inspired public art across Leeds in the collections. Hover over the images below to enlarge them. 

A mural of a boxer in Leeds Zoom in
A mural on a wall in Leeds of LUFC Zoom in
A Burley Banksy communications box Zoom in
A cricket mural on a building in Leeds Zoom in
A mural in Leeds Zoom in
A LUFC mural in Leeds Zoom in
A mural of Rob Burrow in Leeds Zoom in
A mural of a football manager in Leeds Zoom in
A mural of people in Leeds Zoom in
A mural of people in Leeds Zoom in

Sports Sign Photography

Photographs of sports club signs from across the City, taken in 2022. We wanted to find a way of representing some sports clubs and their public presence in the collections. Hover over the images below to enlarge them. 

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The Hunslet Club sign
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The Woodhouse Warriors sign
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Woodhouse Cricket Club sign
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Sharkey's Boxing Academy sign
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Whitkirk Tennis Club sign
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Morley Cricket Club sign
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Morley Rugby Football Club sign
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West Park Leeds RUFC sign
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Leeds City FC sign
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Adel Cricket Club sign
Three female Leeds Roses ice hockey players

Sports display at Leeds City Museum

We’ve spent the year collecting objects and stories from some incredible sports people in Leeds, and you can hear about some of them here.

Hear about the murals on display Hear about the objects on display

Finding the display onsite: The sports display is in the Community Corridor within the Leeds Story gallery. The Leeds Story gallery is on the second floor and can be accessed via steps or lift.

Project Blog Posts

Below is a collection of blog posts created by contributors to the #DYC On the Pitch project. Explore them, and check back soon for more.

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Blog | Knurr and Spell

What is Knurr and Spell? We explore this old Yorkshire game, and rediscover a fascinating part of Leeds and sporting history.

Blog | Boxing Belt Mystery Thickens…

The story of this mystery boxing belt has a new twist as a volunteer noticed its resemblance to a belt in an old photo. We delve deeper into this to this mystery.

Blog | Football Works

Leeds has a proud sporting history, and it’s the home of amazing athletes and incredible teams—but who knew we used to be the home of a literal football factory? The clue to digging into this history is a sales leaflet in our social history collection, that the museum team came across as part of a larger project assessing what objects relating to sports history we have.

Blog | Powerchairs in Sport

A power wheelchair is a motorized chair that was made for the aid of veterans after World War 2. Scientists developed the power wheelchair to enable the injured soldiers to carry on with their daily lives. The chairs go from manual to having assisted technology to accessible vehicles.

Oral Histories

We're looking forward to sharing the oral histories we've been collecting with you, they will be shared here in September.

Rosie Harris, netball player currently with Leeds Rhinos netball
Sue Itzinger, former volleyball player and coach
Vaughan Caswell, cyclist with the Bramley Wheelers in the 1950s and 1960s
Yona Knight-Wisdom, Olympic diver
Howard Gardner, former member of Leeds Caribbean Cricket Club
Amy Thraves Conor, member of Spider-Y Wheelchair basketball
Alford Gardner, founder and former members of Caribbean Cricket Club
Cynthia Chandler, member of Wheels 4 Fun
Ayad Marhoon, member of Leeds Powerchair FC
Naomi Ridley, Muay Thai Boxer
Harry Brook, 2024 captain of Northern Superchargers
Kadeena Cox, Para-athlete
Rob Cook, member of Leeds ParkyPING!
Michelle Ross, Sarah Rowland and CJ Harrison, members Leeds Roses Ice Hockey club

Project Films

A day at Roundhay Park
Woodhouse Moor
Childrens outdoor games
Wild Swimming

Murals

Find out more about the murals commissioned during this project.

Doris Storey mural

By Alexandra Elstone, this mural key elements of Doris Storey's life.

Caribbean Cricket Club mural

By Jioni Warner, this mural celebrate Leeds Caribbean Cricket Club.

Dance in Leeds mural

By Herfa Thompson, this mural is inspired by the joy of dance.

Skateboarding in Leeds mural

By Melody Murals, this mural is inspired by skateboarding in Leeds, as well as skateboarding groups and organisations.

Kadeena Cox Mural

By Hyro Graff, this mural celebrates Kadeena Cox and her life.

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