Ilkeston Town plans six covered padel courts at New Manor Ground

Ilkeston Town FC has put six covered padel courts on the map at the New Manor Ground, with a club social post putting the cost at £950,000 for the six-court scheme. The club is already asking local players to pre-register interest and says the build will be shared "week by week, from first dig to first serve."

The planning application, reference ERE/1125/0030, covers enclosing walls and fencing, a retractable roof over all courts and a car park for football club and padel court users. The courts would sit behind the football arena on an informal grass training pitch that the planning documents describe as largely unused, with pedestrian access through the football ground and vehicle access via an extension to the existing internal road.

That layout matters because it turns dead space into a year-round participation site. Covered courts and a retractable roof are the difference between a fair-weather add-on and a venue that can keep players coming through the winter, while the shared car park and internal access point suggest the club is planning for padel traffic as a separate stream, not just a by-product of football crowds. At a ground listed at 3,029 capacity by FC United of Manchester, the aim looks less like a cosmetic upgrade and more like squeezing more sessions, more visits and more non-matchday spend out of the same footprint.

The marketing push has been deliberate too. Ilkeston Town’s social posts described the project as "built by the club you already know," and the club has used its own channels to push early interest before the venue opens. The club has also highlighted that padel is a doubles game, a clue that it is trying to convert football followers into first-time players as much as it is chasing existing padel regulars.

Council scrutiny is already in the picture. Planning officers recommended approval, and the committee decision was scheduled for 11 March. If the scheme goes through, the value of six covered courts will not just be in the glass and steel. It will be in whether the New Manor Ground can keep people moving through the gates on nights and weekends when football is not on, and whether the early interest turns into sustained bookings rather than launch-week noise.