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I ask the people who are leaving the public gallery to do so as quickly as possible as we move to the next item of business, which is a members’ business debate on motion S6M-20146, in the name of Daniel Johnson, on securing a long-term home for Edinburgh South Football Club and recognising the important role of grass-roots football. The debate will be concluded without any question being put.
I ask members who wish to participate to press their request-to-speak button and I reiterate my appeal to those who are leaving the public gallery to do so quietly and as quickly as possible.
Motion debated,
That the Parliament recognises what it sees as the significant contribution that Edinburgh South FC (ESFC) Inch Park Community Sports Club makes to grassroots sport and community participation across the Edinburgh Southern constituency; notes that the ESFC is one of the largest community football organisations in the country, with over 1,000 players across 75 teams, and supported by more than 200 volunteers; understands that the area of Inch Park, which is known locally as the “nursery site” has been identified as the preferred location for a new all-weather pitch and new changing facilities to support year-round participation and reduce cancellations; acknowledges that ESFC’s plans have received support from the SFA; notes calls encouraging more local authorities and leisure centres to work alongside football clubs to secure sustainable long-term homes for clubs; believes that good access to high-quality and affordable football facilities is essential to supporting participation, improving health and wellbeing and offering opportunities for young people in communities across Scotland, and recognises what it sees as the important role that grassroots football clubs play nationwide in fostering inclusion, developing talent and strengthening communities.
12:50
[Inaudible.] My competence with the technology in the chamber is matched by my competence at football.
In these sorts of debates, many of us will say that we came into politics and the Parliament to make a difference, but we all know that it is the organisations in our communities that really can make that difference. I am in awe of what Edinburgh South Community Football Club and Inch Park Community Sports Club do. They are community wealth building in action. We have just passed legislation on that, and Inch Park Community Sports Club was formed from an asset transfer.
Edinburgh South Community Football Club is one of the biggest footballing organisations not just in Edinburgh but across the country. It has 75 teams that play in boys’, girls’, women’s and men’s football, with more than 1,000 participants taking part weekly and more than 200 volunteers. The community sports club does so much more, by running free counselling, after-school clubs and so on. Those organisations are at the heart of the community of south Edinburgh and they support groups across the area.
Like many community sports clubs, they need to grow, expand and develop their facilities. They need 4G pitches to continue to compete at the right level, and they have land on their doorstep—it is tantalising. If members go down to Inch park and look through the railings, they will see what the council calls the nursery, which is just wide open land. There is a bit of concrete and some skips and other things there. Essentially, the council uses the area to store stuff. It is a perfect size for a football pitch and yet, despite pursuing the issue since 2018, the answer that the groups have been getting is, “Not quite yet. Let’s have another look.”
If we are serious about community empowerment and community wealth building, we cannot put this sort of problem in front of communities. We have to get behind them. The reality is that, despite all the meetings, we are not making progress. I was pleased that, when I pointed out to council officials that I had secured this debate, we got another meeting. I do not think that it should take a member of the Scottish Parliament lodging a motion to bring the issue to the Parliament to secure a meeting that was promised would be held in January just before Christmas.
I welcome this debate, particularly as I was formerly an under-12s player for Inch boys club. I also recognise the contributions that the Spartans Community Foundation has made in the north of the city. Is that not an example of what can be created when the council and other organisations work together? If there is anything that we in the northern and eastern sides of the city can do to support the contribution that Mr Johnson is trying to make on behalf of south Edinburgh, please can we do it?
I am grateful to Ben Macpherson for intervening, although I think that he has shown that he is probably more qualified than I am to speak on the topic. His wider point is absolutely right: we need collaboration and co-operation and, critically, we need local authorities to come to the table and to work proactively with local organisations, because they have the wherewithal and structures to do that. Volunteers bring an awful lot of willingness and enthusiasm, but that must be facilitated.
Ultimately, we are talking about public assets and public land that belong to the people who are seeking to develop and use them. The issue has a long timeline. Plans looking at how the Inch park nursery site could be developed were commissioned in 2020. A masterplan designed in conjunction with the City of Edinburgh Council was submitted as part of an application for levelling up funding in 2022. Despite that effort and those detailed plans, and despite all the engagement, there has been a lack of progress.
I will widen out the subject. I recognise that not every member who signed my motion or will speak today wants to speak about Inch park, but community sport matters more widely. I note that Brian Whittle is going to speak, and I suspect that he is about to make a point about the hugely important wider health impacts of participation in sport. We know that sport is important for mental health. I am not necessarily good at playing team sport, but I know what I learned from doing that. If you play football or rugby at school, you learn about teamwork, discipline and communication. It is not all about becoming good at sport, because many people will not—I can attest to that—but you learn how to work with other people and you gain incredible health benefits.
I want the project to move forward, ending a situation in which people in the Inch look through the railings and wonder what they could do with the land if they were allowed to make better use of it and develop it. That land belongs to them. We were debating the Community Wealth Building (Scotland) Bill the other day and discussing what happens when communities are enabled and when there is a presumption that we will say yes to them. It does not feel as if that is happening here. We must bring the council to the table to get the plan moving. Rather than talk about storage facilities, or parking—that is what the council says the groups need to find—we should see that land being used for the people who live in the Inch.
That should be the wider approach. Land that is owned by the public should be used by the public for the benefit of the public. That is what community empowerment and community wealth building are about, and we need to see much more of it.
We move to the open debate.
12:58
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.
13:03
I thank Daniel Johnson for securing this debate and for giving me the opportunity to speak. I did not have anything written down. I wondered where I would go with this—would I go in a different direction from the one I usually go in? No—I am going to go down exactly the same route.
When Daniel Johnson was talking about the impact that football, or any kind of sport, has on people at a young age, it struck me that it is about lifelong learning. My concern has always been for how the youth of today can have the same ability to participate that we had.
I recognise that I go back a wee bit further than a lot of people in the chamber, but I played football at school: in primary school, we played inter-school football tournaments, and my speed about the park ensured that I was the goalkeeper—talk me through that one. We had the opportunity to get on the bus on a Thursday afternoon and go to play. I was at Troon primary school; we played Symington and Dundonald and all the different primary schools. We had that opportunity to play.
In secondary school, I played rugby. My concern lies in the reduced ability or opportunities for our children to participate in sport these days, which I often talk about. I have used this example before, but when I was at Marr college, there was—
Will the member give way?
Of course I will give way to Daniel Johnson.
Brian Whittle raised an important distinction in what he said about primary school and secondary school. Some of the opportunities that exist at secondary school just do not exist at primary school. We see fewer and fewer dedicated physical education teachers at primary schools, and the opportunities to do PE and, critically, to take part in competitive sport are very different from what they were 30 or 40 years ago. I am not going to suggest how many years ago the member might have been at primary school, but—
Let us say 50.
—does he agree with that point?
Daniel Johnson is absolutely correct. When I was at Marr college playing rugby, 36 schools in Ayrshire played rugby. Last time I looked, there were six. Grass-roots access to playing rugby is limited. My eldest grandson now plays for Marr college and he is on the Scottish Rugby pathway. He got on to that pathway by playing at the Marr rugby minis, and his coach was the captain of Kilmarnock rugby club, which I played with once I had retired from track and field. That coach has taken the school team right the way through to some fantastic results.
That whole system is now missing. I am not going to say, “In my day”; I think that those are dangerous words to use, because it is not that this is not my day. However, we have to find a different way. Daniel Johnson rightly talked about the impact of participating—the confidence and resilience, the aspiration, the teamwork and the discipline that sport brings to a rounded person. However, there has been a huge reduction in opportunities to participate, and there is now a cost associated with participation that many cannot meet.
If we really want to tackle poor physical and mental health and Scotland’s poor health record, we should start with community sport and community activity, because they are the foundation of how we tackle those things in the long term.
I will be really interested to hear what the minister says in responding to the debate. The Government always says, “We are putting more money into this and there is more money for that”, but in this case that is not true on the ground. I am still involved as a performance coach. When we look at what is happening on the ground, we see that, these days, sport is becoming the bastion of the middle class and private education. That has to change.
I am really thankful that Daniel Johnson has given me the opportunity to come out and say again the same thing that I always say, because it is hugely important.
Thank you, Mr Whittle. I can advise you that, although few football careers start in goal, many of them, as I know from experience, end in goal.
The final speaker in the open debate is Davy Russell.
13:08
I, too, thank my colleague Daniel Johnson for bringing the motion to Parliament for debate.
I love football. Believe it or not, I am still playing two or sometimes three games a week. I am getting a wee bit slower, but I get there. Although I do not know much about Edinburgh South Community FC, other than what I have found out from Daniel Johnson, football clubs in my area have the same problems.
When we talk about football, the most important word is “inclusion”. For decades, Scottish football has been a nucleus of inclusion in our communities, our cities and our schools. It crosses cultural and language barriers and allows people from vastly different backgrounds to play. Men, women, pensioners, including in walking football, and children—they all play footy. They celebrate together and, on occasion, commiserate. There are also some heated debates afterwards about whether something wis or wisnae a penalty.
That aside, football is tremendously important to our culture. Nowadays, we might think that we are known for whisky, haggis and Hogwarts, but I assure you that is disnae matter where you go on this planet, everybody knows Celtic and Rangers. They are known the world over. Unfortunately my local team—Hamilton Accies—has not made it to that echelon. They have not played at Bernabeu stadium or Parc des Princes. Nevertheless, they are loved just the same.
There are tonnes of grass-roots football clubs, such as the ones in my constituency—Eddlewood Football Club, Fairhill amateurs, Larkhall Thistle and Mill United boys’ club. Some amount of footballers come out of my constituency too—Phil O’Donnell, Jim Bett, Bobby Shearer and Ally Maxwell. There are a lot of good footballers, and they all started at grass-roots level in wee local teams. They went from boys’ football up to amateur and then progressed further. There is step-by-step football development. Without local clubs and grass-roots football, Scotland probably widnae be in the World Cup this summer, because there widnae have been a route for the team to follow.
Local football clubs also help to foster healthy lifestyles, which was touched on earlier. The benefits are physical and mental, as people have the opportunity to take off the stress of day to day life and get away from the screens that dominate their days. The opportunity to be present in a team game is therefore more important than ever.
Local football teams also provide an opportunity for another role model in a child’s life. Coaches—or a pal’s dad, because nine times out of 10 that is who the coach is—volunteer and spend their free time managing the team. When my boy played on Saturday mornings—when I might have been hungover—I would be standing getting soaked with all of the other dads and some mums as well, watching them play football, and at the end of the game everyone would shake hands. A lot of friendships from then still carry on to this day.
The phrase it takes a village to raise a child comes to mind. The facilities and opportunities that are offered by clubs such as Edinburgh South are the modern equivalent of that.
I also take this opportunity to talk about Eddlewood Football Club. It is probably slightly behind in some respects, because it is not as big as other teams—although it has a big catchment area—but it recently completed a community asset transfer, so it is going to have a grass park and we are trying to get funding for an astroturf park. It will be a main community hub. It is fortunate that 2,000 brand new houses are being built near it, because that will help the footfall. The community development fund will also contribute to the upgrading of its facilities.
So far, it has raised money for solar panels and heat pumps. When I played with the club, there were cold water tanks for the showers, so we would be staunin under them. We actually only used to wash our boots in it; we didnae ago in the shower. The club is raising money and upgrading facilities, and just getting on with it.
Eddlewood and Edinburgh South are community exemplars. That is why I support the motion for a team from across the country. I had not heard much about Edinburgh South until I read the motion, but I whole-heartedly support and congratulate Edinburgh South. Congratulations for its efforts and being a community exemplar are well deserved.
I call the minister, Maree Todd.
13:14
Tapadh leibh, Oifigeir Riaghlaidh. Thank you, Presiding Officer, and thank you to everyone who has contributed to this very interesting debate on the vital role that grass-roots football clubs such as Edinburgh South play in supporting and strengthening Scotland’s communities.
We covered many of the same themes during George Adam’s recent debate about the hugely positive impact that St Mirren has on its local community. What is evident, though, is that grass-roots clubs are just as important as professional clubs.
There are more than 2,500 clubs spread across the country, all providing opportunities for young people to engage in physical activity and be part of something that supports their mental and social health. Those community clubs do far more than simply develop players; they develop people. They give children and adults alike a place to belong, grow in confidence and build friendships that, as others have said, last far beyond the pitch. They teach teamwork, discipline, resilience and respect—qualities that matter just as much off the pitch as on it. For many young people, a coach can be one of the most influential adults in their lives, helping them to build character, confidence and self-belief.
Clubs are often run by volunteers, who give their time, energy and passion because they believe in what football can do. The dedication of the coaches, committee members, kit washers, drivers and parents standing in the rain keeps Scottish football moving forward. They are the unsung heroes who turn up long before sessions begin and leave long after they end, not for recognition but in the belief that football can change lives. Without them, our game would simply not exist.
Does the minister agree that, more than just enabling others to participate, volunteers are looking after their own health and mental wellbeing and that they are participating in sport just as much?
Absolutely. Volunteering is undoubtedly good for the person who volunteers. We think that it is an altruistic act, but it is actually pretty good for the volunteer, too. I am very proud of the number of young people who volunteer in sport in Scotland, and I would be delighted to encourage more to get involved.
When I was preparing for the debate, I reflected on a film premiere that I recently went to in my constituency. The seaboard villages, along with the Scottish Football Museum, created a film to celebrate 100 years of grass-roots football in that area. If anyone has a wee 45 minutes to spare, I suggest that they watch the film on YouTube. It is an illustration of the power of football and the inclusion that Davy Russell talked about—the community cohesion, social connection and the health and wellbeing impacts. We have some sporting excellence, too. Grass-roots clubs are essential for the future of Scottish football. Every professional player and Scotland international—every moment of national pride—has their roots in a local club, a dedicated coach and a community that believed in them.
For clubs across the country, the key challenges remain largely the same. The on-going challenge of recruiting and retaining volunteers to support increased participation and ensuring the affordability for families of sports participation, combined with the rising cost of living and the need to make accessible suitable facilities for clubs, is compounded by a continuing increase in demand. The Scottish Government understands the important role that sporting facilities play in improving people’s lives, whether it is through their taking part in sport and physical activity for the first time or in developing, progressing or achieving success, with the physical, mental and social health benefits that that brings.
I agree with Daniel Johnson that good access to high-quality and affordable facilities is essential to support participation, whether that be in football or other sports. Edinburgh South is an SFA platinum quality mark accredited community club that has been operating for more than half a century. It runs teams for children, youth, boys, girls, senior men, women and amateurs. It represents more than 1,000 players, with 200 volunteer coaches and officials spread across 75 teams. According to the club, that makes it the second biggest community club in Scotland and the biggest in the east of Scotland.
Edinburgh South’s ambition to improve its facilities and provide year-round participation and improved provision of changing rooms is absolutely to be commended. I urge partners to work together to achieve the best possible solution.
I fear that I may have interrupted the minister when she was about to address this point. Jamie Hepburn and I are always slightly surprised when we alight on the same analysis. On Jamie’s point about council bureaucracy sometimes getting in the way, how might the Scottish Government work with local authorities to make community empowerment a reality, especially—but not only—with a focus on community football?
Minister, I will give you the time back.
I was about to say that I am not sighted on the proposals or the specific issues. From what has been said today, I understand that, although the City of Edinburgh Council is not being obstructive, it is not providing much active support to the club as it seeks to develop its plans. I also understand that the consequences of that could be profound. Through funding from the Department for Culture, Media and Sport, another round of SFA grass-roots funding is becoming available, and I understand that the club wants to catch that. I urge partners such as the council, the leisure facilities and any interested businesses—because, for business, it is a good investment in the local community—to get around the table and work collaboratively to solve those challenges.
We recognise that the operators of facilities face significant challenge as rising operational, energy and building materials costs place a real strain on resources. I am not sure whether concern over that is what is preventing the City of Edinburgh Council from getting involved. The cost of protecting and maintaining the existing infrastructure and developing new facilities has increased and continues to do so at an unprecedented rate. Sportscotland has undertaken a review of the condition and long-term investment needs of the sporting facilities estate, which will provide us with a better understanding of the current condition of the wider estate across Scotland and enable us to collectively work together.
No one party has the solutions, and I guarantee that the Government is keen to work with partners to address the problems that will be identified. We want to ensure a more affordable, inclusive and sustainable sporting facilities estate that provides more and better opportunities and that removes barriers to people’s taking part. A huge investment from the Scottish Government and the national lottery, targeted by sportscotland, is going into facilities. Fundamentally, we want to support the unique reach of football and football clubs in Scottish society, to positively impact the physical and mental health and the wellbeing of our communities. We announced extra funding for football in the run-up to the world cup, to support those outcomes, as part of a summer of sport package. We are working with partners on proposals for that.
I reiterate that we must not underestimate the huge value of grass-roots clubs in their local communities. I wish Edinburgh South all the best with its plans, and I am more than happy to hear of future developments.
That concludes the debate, and I suspend the meeting.
13:23
Meeting suspended.
14:30
On resuming—
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