Children at two Renfrewshire football clubs are jumping for joy after being awarded a brand new set of changing rooms.
Erskine Youth FC and Parkmoor Boys Club received a £25,000 grant for the new facilities from The Scottish Football Partnership.
Both clubs have joined forces in recent years to develop the sport in the local community and they’re currently attempting to become one of Scotland’s first regional football hubs.
The new containers were delivered two weeks to the clubs’ home pitch at Inchinnan and boast a home and away dressing room with toilets and wash-hand sinks.
Erskine Youth coach Neil McMurchy said: “We’re absolutely delighted with the new changing rooms and can’t thank the SFP enough for the grant.”
“The kids love them. They’re spacious, clean and just what we were crying out for.”
“There are over 400 kids playing football here every week and they previously had nowhere to get changed, so we couldn’t be happier.”
As well as the new changing facilities, the clubs also received a storage container and a set of state-of-the-art portable floodlights which will allow them to train throughout winter.
Erskine and Parkmoor run over 25 teams at various age groups and with numbers growing all the time, the new facilities are a much needed boost for football in the area.
Local councillor Iain Nicolson said: “There’s a long and proud tradition of football in Erskine and it’s fantastic to see that it’s as vibrant as ever.”
“These new facilities will make football even more attractive to hundreds of local children.”
The SFP was set-up eleven years to provide grant aid for football clubs all over Scotland to help develop the grassroots of the game.
To date they have provided more than £10m in funding for clubs of all sizes, from SPL teams right down to small youth clubs.
SFP chairman James Clydesdale said: “We received an application from Erskine Youth FC and were only too happy to help.”
“The new facilities will help aid the development of football in the area and hopefully encourage many more boys and girls to join these clubs.”
The Erskine clubs are run entirely by volunteer coaches, with over 80 adults taking part each week to train the youngsters.
Despite the large number of kids already involved, both clubs are keen to attract even more youngsters. They meet four nights a week at the India Tyres playing fields at Inchinnan.