Business as usual for Livingston despite setbacks

By COLLEEN STRACHAN
Published on 21/06/2012 12:00

LIVINGSTON chairman Ged Nixon insisted today that it is business as usual, despite the fire which burned down three turnstiles at the Braidwood Motor Company Stadium.

The Lions chief stressed that the early-morning blaze – which police are treating as suspicious – will not have any impact on manager John Hughes’ transfer budget for the new season. The gates at the south west corner of the stadium were gutted after the fire broke out in the early hours of Monday, with Nixon admitting the incident was a huge blow at a time when the First Division club have invested heavily in improving their ground.

He said: “The entire turnstile unit has been destroyed and we will have to replace it completely, which is obviously something that we could have done without, given that the start of the new season is only a few weeks away now.

“It’s obviously been very disappointing for this to have happened and everyone has been saddened by it, but it is an insurance matter now really. This won’t affect any plans that the manager has in the transfer market, it’ll just be a case of us getting on with things as normal and this can all sort itself out in the background.”

The Lions have carried out a programme of improvements over the summer and, by the time the 2012/13 campaign gets under way, will have completed work to revamp the dressing rooms, showers and gym, as well as relaying the pitch.

The covers came off the new surface at the end of last week and Nixon is confident that everything will be in perfect condition for their first league game.

He continued: “We have done so much work in and around the stadium in the summer months, so the fire has been a bit of a sickener for us. We want to make things the best that we can and have refurbished the players areas and changing rooms. On top of that, the pitch had to be relaid.”