Hansard

I will not start by talking about my own footballing prowess, because you have seen me play, Deputy Presiding Officer, and will be able to adjudicate on that. I will leave that subject there.

I am glad to speak in the debate, which reflects the importance of football and its benefits for the social wellbeing and health of our country. Football is also an economic driver and has a central importance to the lives of many in Scotland. There is nothing wrong with us returning to the subject of football, particularly in the context of Daniel Johnson’s constituency interest.

I confess that I was not au fait with enough of the detail to feel confident in signing his motion, but I am sympathetic to it, and it has been interesting to hear what he said about Edinburgh South Football Club and Inch Park Community Sports Club. We need to see more of that approach across the country. I acquainted myself with some of the activities of Edinburgh South in advance of the debate, and I am impressed by the club’s strong and clear commitment to supporting hundreds of players across all levels and abilities, right up to a first team that plays in the East of Scotland Football League. It reminded me of some of the clubs in my constituency, which I will return to later. In particular, it reminded me of Cumbernauld Colts Football Club, which was formed in the same year as Edinburgh South.

The fact that Edinburgh South has the Scottish Football Association quality mark and is a platinum legacy club testifies to its achievement—that is not an easy thing to achieve. I had a cursory glance at the league table and saw that Edinburgh South’s first team is doing rather well in the east of Scotland league first division, which means that they will not be contesting against any of the four teams that play in the league system that are from my constituency, which is on the west side of the country. I am safe to say that I wish them well for the rest of the season.

I want to focus on the part of the motion about recognising the importance of the role of grass-roots football, as it impacts my constituency. Like others, we have a tremendous range of clubs operating at youth and amateur levels, and there is women’s football as well. I place on record my thanks to all those clubs.

I will focus on two in particular. The first is the aforementioned Cumbernauld Colts, which, as I said, was formed in 1969, primarily as a youth club. As Edinburgh South does, the club supports hundreds of players across all ages and abilities, right up to a first team in the Scottish lowland league. I am concerned that, sometimes, the club does not get the support that it should get from the local authority.

Cumbernauld Colts, through the cashback for communities fund, was able to get an artificial surface installed at Broadwood. Thereafter, there were tensions between the club and the council in relation to utilising the stadium. That situation has improved a little; however, given that the club was the driving force in getting that surface installed, that should have been recognised a little more. We should also recognise that the club gives so much back to the town—if it were not there, there would be a significant hole to fill.

The other club that I want to mention is Kilsyth Athletic, which was founded in 1999 and which, again, supports hundreds of players from across the local area, ranging from youth football right up to a first team competing in the west of Scotland league. The club is based at Kilsyth sports field, where there are challenges. The site is not being maintained well enough by North Lanarkshire Council; effectively, it is used as a flood plain for the Garrel burn. Such things need to be managed, but that impacts on the ability to use the playing field. Simple things such as the car park being in disrepair cause problems for the club’s ability to use it.

The club is interested to see a repair there and has identified people who might be able to do that, but it seems to be caught up in bureaucracy—the people who can do it are not an accredited provider with the council. We should be working around such things. We should be trying to make sure that things can happen for clubs such as Kilsyth Athletic, Cumbernauld Colts and—returning to Daniel Johnson’s case—Edinburgh South.

They are important institutions, in terms of their contribution to the sport of football and their wider community contribution. They deserve our support. This summer, we will see the pinnacle of football: the world cup, which, thankfully, Scotland will play in. However, let us remind ourselves that football starts in the community and that we must do everything that we can to support community football clubs.

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