Dundee United Sports Club celebrated its thirty year anniversary in style; scooping the Legacy Award at the Scottish FA East Region Quality Mark awards

The sterling efforts of coaches and members of Dundee United Sports Club were recognised at the recent Scottish FA East Region Quality Mark Awards as the club was honoured with the much sought after Legacy Award.

This prestigious prize celebrates the achievements of clubs who play a pivotal role within their local community.

The club, which is now in its 30th year, has the Craigie community at its heart; offering a pathway for five year olds right through to adults. It boasts 12 separate competitive football teams with over 300 players of both sexes.

However, as Steve Maloney, Club Coach Co-ordinator and manager of the Under-10s explains, Dundee United is about so much more than schooling tomorrow’s stars in the finer arts of our beautiful game.

He said: “The club are very family oriented. We want to create a family atmosphere at the club So that everybody’s involved. We just like to have fun. Winning’s great, but we don’t emphasize that. It’s the fun aspect that we try and emphasize. This tends to lead to success on the pitch.”

It is more than apparent that the club has been unstinting in its efforts to promote this family ethos and to engage with the local community.

Social evenings are held at the club twice weekly which are open to all children in the Craigie area. The kids are encouraged to participate in games of pool, darts, dominos and Carpet Bowls.

In addition to which, the club also plays host to dance and fitness classes for the local adult population.

“I think Quality Mark is great thing for the coaches and for the parents and members because they know that the club is well run,” said Steve. “We’ve got documents in place for good practice and I really think it puts us on a par with the best clubs in the area.”

Scottish FA East Region Manager Kevin Lee: “Dundee United SC have been involved in the Quality Mark programme for the last 7 years and have successfully progressed through all levels of QM.

"They now attain the highest level of accreditation (Legacy status) and are a fine example of how a football club can offer society more than just football by using the sport as a tool to develop their community. Steven and the DUSC Committee have been instrumental in the clubs outstanding progress and great credit must be given to them.”