Sport report calls for North funding

"IT is probably legitimate for Northerners to claim that the North is the spiritual home of British sport," says the foreword of a new report launched in Parliament this week.

- ROB PARSONS

"From its proud and pioneering sports heritage the beginnings of the football league in Manchester; to the home of rugby league in Huddersfield; the county cricket clash of the centuries at Old Trafford and Headingley; and the Great North run in Tyneside - sport is a central part of our lives and often the beating heart in our communities." In its 'Question of Sport' report, the Northern Culture All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) says the region's sporting and cultural leaders are shouting out for "rocket booster" investment in the North's rich talent pipeline.