A FORMER bowling champion says it will be sad to say goodbye to the glory days at the Fartown Pavilion.
Ken Atkinson, a member of the winning 1976 Yorkshire Cup team, said the place has great memories for him.
A petition to wind-up the long-standing Huddersfield Cricket and Athletic Club has been submitted and will be heard at Leeds District Registry on December 11.
It will signal the end of the days of sporting success at the site, with cricket, rugby league, bowling and athletics all taking place there.
Mr Atkinson, 69, said: “It is sad to see the demise of that complex, it was such a wonderful sporting place and it is a shame it’s all gone.
“Ideally they should have built the sports centre there 30 years ago, but all hope of that has gone now.”
Mr Atkinson was part of the winning 1976 Yorkshire Cup bowling team when he was 39. It was the last time a Huddersfield club won the prestigious cup.
He said: “We were Yorkshire champions and not many people in Huddersfield can say that. It has never happened since either which is a shame.
“It was a wonderful place with some great characters.
“A lot of them have now sadly passed away, the last one Harry Haigh just a few months ago, so there are not many of us around.”
Mr Atkinson, who ran the veterans league, enjoyed bowling at the site.
He added: “It is sad now to go down there, it has gone from bad to worse and all we can do now is reminisce.
“The area would have been a marvellous place for a Yorkshire Waterloo, but unfortunately that never transpired.”
The Waterloo Hotel green in Blackpool is a top venue for crown green bowlers.
