Evening Telegraph (First Edition)
Club plans overhaul in bid to secure its future
BOSSES at a junior football club have revealed plans to transform its facilities — in a bid to make more money and secure the club’s future.
Downfield Junior Football Club officials have submitted plans to Dundee City Council for a revamp of their clubhouse.
The proposals include converting some of the space into a convenience store, hot food takeaway and beauty salon.
It follows on from the renovation of the club’s function suite earlier this year.
Club chairman Alex Duncan today told the Tele that the plans had been drawn up in an effort to save the club from closure in what are turbulent times for sports teams.
He said: “The financial state of the club isn’t great.
“It is very difficult to run sports clubs in this day and age.
“The club currently has a bar area and a function suite, and while we hold a number of functions, the bar area is struggling to make a profit.
“The space is empty for the most part from Monday to Friday — and that lost revenue is needed to ensure the club’s survival.”
Mr Duncan said that keeping things as they are could put the club’s future at risk.
He said: “This club has been around for more than 100 years and we need to secure its future.
“This is a proactive step to bring much-needed funding into the club so t hat it is here for f uture generations.
“We are looking at our options and seeing what we can do to use the space we have.
“There is a possibility that the club might have to close if we don’t take action to make more money.”
If given the green light by the city council, the plans will also see six parking spaces created.
Mr Duncan said that, even at this early stage, there had been considerable i nterest i n the retail units from members of the community.
He added: “This will be a huge boost to the football team but it will also be a boost to the wider community too.
“A number of people have already registered their interest in the retail units.”
The club was founded in 1904 and plays at Downfield Park on Balgowan Avenue.
Downfield’s nickname, The Spiders, is the same as Glasgow club Queen’s Park.
Legend has it that the Downfield outfit were given the name because they played in the same narrow black-and-white hooped strip as Scotland’s oldest club.
When Downfield were founded, Queen’s Park donated a set of strips to t hem to assist with their start-up.