History

2003 : The all-weather pitches on Broughton's Albert Park, were managed by Broughton Leisure Centre and were in a state of disrepair.

2004 : The changing rooms suffered a fire which led to the whole future of the facility being questioned  Local community organisation, Broughton Action Group (BAG), lobbied Salford Council for the restoration and maintenance of the facility as part of a proposed wider community regeneration programme. The Council responded by providing funds to completely re-lay the pitch and provide new fences, lights and changing rooms. BAG then took over the management of the facility.

2006 : Late in this year, the restored rooms opened as a facility for meetings and provisions for a much needed youth club along with a brand new 3G pitch

2007 : The new pitch was officially opened early in 2007.  BAG commissioned research into the setting up of a separate not-for-profit company to manage the asset.

2008 : We became Albert's of Salford as a Community Interest Company. CIC. During 2007/2008 Salford Primary Care Trust invested £100,000 in the indoor space creating a family friendly facility which can be used by people of all ages.

2010 : A grant was received from Salford City Council to erect a 'ball stop' fence, to safeguard users in front of the building

2012 : End of June, Albert's of Salford CIC received a major grant from Sport England’s Inspired Facilities Fund to completely renew the floodlights

2012: July 2012 Albert's upgraded the outdoor facility by installing a much needed drinks water fountain.

2019: The Directors voted to convert the CIC into a CIO receiving Charity Commission approval in June 2020. 

2020: From March of 2020 Covid19 struck down the country and as a result we had to close down our facility. We re-opened in September and welcomed back all our users for their winter training only to be thwarted again by another lockdown a couple of months later!  Foundation 92 (F92) which is the official charity partner of Salford City Reds continued to hire out our facility to train their staff and deliver health, eduction and employability programmes. 

2021: After another shakey start to the first quater of 2021 again due to another lockdown, we managed to keep our head above water! Alberts finaly became a CIO Charitable Incorporated Organisation. The floodlight headlamps were in need of an overall, they were becoming costly to replace the bulbs & capacitors not to mention maintenance. A decision was made to replace the halogen heads with LED's which are cheaper to run and better for the enviroment. We searched a number of companies and settled for 'Midstream Lighting ltd' to do the works at a cost of £27k including VAT

We were absolutely delighted to received grant monies to part fund our project from a number of wards within the Salford district such as, East Salford, Swinton & Pendlebury, Ordsall & Langworthy  and from the Eccles standing together group. The total amounted awarded was £12,500.00. The LED headlamps were installed in June. they are much brighter and give far better pitch coverage. 

2022: Alberts of Salford CIC changed it's name to incorporate charitable status. 'Alberts of Salford Charitable Incorporated Organisation' (CIO) also during 2022, it become very evident that the pitch was at it's end of life. We made and application to the Football Foundation for a full pitch refurbishment, along with upgrading the changing rooms in order to comply with FA regulations. The whole project was costed at £755k Alberts needed to find £150k towards the project. After many months spent fundfinding and in meetings we managed to secure the full amount. Thank you to the FF, Albert Gubay Foundation, Viridoor, Salix home, Booths charity, GMP for your contibutions towards the new pitch and building works. and thank you to all the individuals who contributed through our crowdfinding page

2023 The first quater of the year was spent finalising the project details. The facility was completely closed down early July and the refurbisment work commenced. After many momths of closure the new surfaced 3G pitch along with a new perimeter fencing and goal posts was re-opend in October much to the delight of all our local groups / teams and staff. Building works to the changing rooms was to start soon after. 

Albert’s consistently attracts over 600+ individual site visitors per week from over 30 local formal and informal organisations and individuals, including sports clubs, schools, voluntary and charitable groups. We are an inclusive organisation welcoming people from all of Salford’s diverse ethnic/faith communities and minority groups. We are one of the few FA registered community-run sports facilities in Greater Manchest

What is a Charitable Incorporated Organisation (CIO)?

It is both a registered charity and a company limited by guarantee. Trustees cannot benefit financially from their involvement. Any surplus income is ploughed back into the organisation for re-investment. Albert’s CIO is a social enterprise aiming to provide both public benefit and commercial sustainability.

Albert's of Salford is a Charitable Incorporated Organisation, Charity Number: 1190274