A FORMER Guiseley AFC captain's dream of building a top class football coaching centre for youngsters in Aireborough is about to become a reality.

Joe McPhee's bid to convert a disused warehouse at Yeadon's Moorfield industrial estate was this week given the green light by Leeds City Council.

Joe, a Nethermoor player around ten years ago, hopes to provide year-round coaching for kids using state-of-the-art equipment and sports flooring. It will also be a community sports centre for badminton, tennis, cricket and aerobics open on a pay-as-you-go basis rather than membership.

He said: "This is marvellous news. People have been asking me when the centre is going to be up and running and now we can get started.

"There's been a lot of interest from people involved in football - they're all keen to know about it."

A former Horsforth St Margaret's player and current player-manager of Rawdon Old Boys, Joe is also a UEFA-qualified coach. He hopes the centre will enable more youngsters to take part in coaching throughout the year.

"It would be great if we could eventually bring in the likes of Guiseley and even Bradford FC in using the centre. We might even end up supplying them with players," he said.

Work is now due to start on the warehouse within the next fortnight with a provisional opening date planned as early as June 1.

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