Sport and Leisure
As described above under Architecture, Thornton Heath gained a new state-of-the-art leisure centre in May 2004. In the first month of opening, there were 5,200 admissions to swim and 9,500 walking tours of the centre, with around 700 people joining as members. The popularity was such that turnstiles had to be fitted to improve security. The official opening ceremony was attended by Iain Dowie (manager of Crystal Palace F.C.), and Crystal Palace players Andrew Johnson, Danny Butterfield and Shaun Derry. The centre is owned by Croydon Council, but was originally run by Parkwood Leisure, although it is now run by Fusion Lifestyle in partnership with the Council.
Thornton Heath formerly had a Non-League football club, Croydon Athletic F.C., who played at the Keith Tuckey Stadium; but the club ceased to exist at the end of the 2010/11 season.
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Famous quotes containing the words sport and/or leisure:
“For generations, a wide range of shooting in Northern Ireland has provided all sections of the population with a pastime which ... has occupied a great deal of leisure time. Unlike many other countries, the outstanding characteristic of the sport has been that it was not confined to any one class.”
—Northern Irish Tourist Board. quoted in New Statesman (London, Aug. 29, 1969)
“The secret of being miserable is to have leisure to bother about whether you are happy or not. The cure for it is occupation.”
—George Bernard Shaw (1856–1950)