Footballers set to be kicked out of home by nursery

Published on Wednesday 16 September 2009 09:54

A FOOTBALL club faces disaster after being told it will lose its home of more than 20 years to make way for a new nursery.

Education bosses would demolish Liberton United's clubhouse to make way for the new nursery at Gracemount Primary if the plan to close the nearby Burdiehouse Primary gets approval.

This would leave the football club without a base and without a source of revenue as the clubhouse funds its teams, strips and other costs through sales of alcohol at its various events and functions

The club is furious that the council plans to demolish the clubhouse – which it has spent thousands of pounds renovating since it took over the lease – and not offer it an alternative site.

Moray Dickson, president of Liberton United, said: "When we first took over the clubhouse, which used to be classrooms, it was a complete shell and we spent thousands putting in toilets, putting in a bar and bringing it up to building standards.

"They're wanting to fling us out of club rooms that bring in a lot of revenue, so they should be allocating us somewhere else."

The clubhouse has a function room, games room and indoor four-a-side pitches. Mr Dickson fears that without the revenue from the clubhouse, the team will suffer financially and it may not be able to afford to pay fees for the children who cannot afford it.

He said: "It's a deprived area we stay in and if we have to say to the laddies that they can't play because they can't pay their fees, it's not going to be nice.

"We have to get revenue to support these children who can't pay their fees. There are a lot of laddies out there who come from big families or whose parents don't make a lot of time for them – if we don't take them in and give them the support they need, who will?

"It's not just about playing football, it's about being there for them, building up their confidence and giving them something to be proud about."

The new nursery would need to be built on the site of the clubhouse at Gracemount Primary to replace the nursery at Burdiehouse Primary, if the council goes ahead with its plans. Council bosses are currently consulting with the public over plans to close four primaries – Burdiehouse, Fort, Royston and Drumbrae.

Edinburgh South MP Nigel Griffiths said: "The consultation document is an unprepared shambles. It's shocking that, either through ignorance or cost-cutting, there are no plans to relocate this much-used facility.

"There are many terrific young people associated with this club and it would be quite simply unacceptable to the community that there are no plans to replace this facility. I'm mobilising public and community support to ensure that this club continues in one of the many other possible sites available and the council must be forced to find an alternative."