Airdrie & Coatbridge Advertiser
Rising pitch fees anger club coach
Fears football players won’t be able to afford to play
Synthetic pitches seem the way forward for youth football in Scotland.
But the coach of a Coatbridge boys’ club says North Lanarkshire Leisure’s (NLL) pitch hire charges are a pain in the grass.
In October 2014, the price to rent a third of an 11- a-side football pitch for one hour was £14.
But since then, it has risen by more than 33 per cent to £19.
Milan FC’s 2001s squad train twice a week at St Ambrose High Scool in Townhead.
At the start of the season, the cost to use a third of the pitch at the school was £17.
And their coach, Paul Blaney, believes the increased price of renting a 3G football pitch in North Lanarkshire could prove costly.
He claims he was notified via email, at very short notice, regarding pitch prices which have been implemented this week.
The 48-year-old said: “This will affect not only us but every team in North Lanarkshire.
“We deserve an explanation and more notice rather than having an email dropped on us saying there will be an increase as of Monday.
“There’s nowhere else to go in Coatbridge apart from the synthetic pitches.
“We can’t use grass pitches in the cold weather and we’re hardly going to use an ash pitch in the dark!
“The sum of £ 19 might not seem like much.
“But we train twice a week and play on a Saturday.
“We have a squad of 16 players who pay £5 a week which covers two sessions and match costs.
“The last thing we need are players having to walk away if the prices keep going up.”
Paul is bemused at why the prices continue to increase and insists the increase is just too much.
He added: “We’re just hiring a third of a pitch for one hour.
“It surely can’t be for staff costs as when we train there’s never any staff or any kind of service. “It’s just turn up and play. “It’s not like we can up sticks and train elsewhere as it’s the same throughout the whole of North Lanarkshire.
“The changes just don’t make sense to me. There’s lots of people struggling out there and we don’t need football pitches lying empty.”
However, NLL claim the price hike is a necessity due to the current financial climate.
A spokesman said: “NL Leisure has always made every attempt to ensure price increases are kept to a minimum and have followed a three per cent price increase for many years.
“Unfortunately, this has now become financially unsustainable under the current climate.
“In order to retain a high quality of service and well maintained facilities, the decision has been taken to put in place a realistic and more sustainable pricing structure moving forward.
“The pricing review has covered every aspect of our services including court hire, fitness classes, pools, club bookings and a host of other activities.
“Our aim is to continue to maintain the high standard of facilities our users have enjoyed up until now.”