Kelty – it’ s a than football Lot better on telly !

There’ s something building in this Fife former mining town, off and on the pitch

At first glance, New Central Park may not look like it is ready to welcome increased crowds from the likes of Dunfermline and Falkirk.

In all corners of the Kelty Hearts ground, work is ongoing to redevelop the space into a venue fit for their maiden season in League One.

Terracing is being installed behind each goal, with segregation set to be introduced for the bigger matches, most notably when the Pars arrive on Christmas Eve.

Meanwhile, facilities are being expanded and hospitality capacity increased.

There are also plans to extend the seated stand later in the season.

On top of this, there is a supporters’ wall being built at the Bath Street entrance, funded by more than £10,000 raised by supporters through their “Buy a Brick” campaign.

“We don’t give ourselves much time here,” managing director Andy Barrowman told Courier Sport with a smile.

“We like to try and squeeze things in. There’s lots of hard work going in and we’re now starting to see the benefit of that.”

Barrowman was speaking on a sunny, wind-swept day in Fife’s old mining heartland when the club opened doors to the public.

There was a buzz in the air in anticipation of the new season as children lined up to take penalties against goalkeeper Darren Jamieson and later Joe Cardle, who chooses to save shots with his heels, hands behind his back.

That was before they all joined in for a kick-about, while the older attendees milled about in the stands and caught up with familiar faces.

After that there was a training session which those in attendance were welcome to watch.

“That’s what we are, we’re a community club,” said Barrowman.

“It’s a small village but I think everyone in the village is a Kelty Hearts fan, they all get behind it.

“It’s a real strong-point of the club, so we actively want to promote it. We want kids to be able to watch the players train and learn from them.”

All of this has been allowed to return after two years of disruption during the coronavirus pandemic, when red zones and distancing dominated.

More recently there was disruption to the management team when Kevin Thomson left the club.

He led the Maroon Machine through a spectacular League Two campaign – totalling 81 points and slaying Premiership outfit St Johnstone in the Scottish Cup for good measure.

Since then John Potter has been brought in to fill the void after spending years as assistant to new Dundee United boss Jack Ross at Hibs and Sunderland.

He was then part of the

management team that last season saw Queen’s Park promoted to the Championship, relegating his old club Dunfermline along the way.

“There’s obviously been a bit of uncertainty in the summer, in terms of the manager. But for the last two weeks, since John has been in place, it’s full steam ahead,” Barrowman said.

“There’s lots of work going on in the background. Hopefully in the next week we should see some of those things come to fruition and we’ll have some new faces in the door.

“As you can see there is lots of work being done off the pitch as well, that’s progressing well.

“You just want to get that done and get ready for a big season ahead.”

So far Brodie Strang is the only player to be added this summer, with former Raith Rovers keeper David McGurn joining as goalkeeping coach.

Kelty will play Partick Thistle, Glenrothes and Raith Rovers in friendly matches before the Premier Sports Cup group stage kicks off on July 9.

To start the league season they will hoist the League Two flag at New Central

Park ahead of taking on fellow new boys FC Edinburgh, fresh from their rebranding.

“There is no pressure on us to a certain extent,” said Barrowman.

“We put pressure on ourselves internally.

“We’ll go into the league season and see what we can do.

“What we do have is a squad of players who in the main have been here for two years and are used to winning games of football.

“So that comes with a momentum, a belief, a confidence, and we’ll take that into the season.”

Kelty supporter Keith Carver had a similar view: “My first thought is to consolidate in the division.

“That’s my initial thought, but as the momentum builds...”

He compared the difference between the modest expectations going into the last campaign and what transpired: “We were hunting down Rangers’ record points total but never quite made it.

“That’s how expectations changed over the season.”

Previously a Berwick Rangers fan from when he lived in the Borders, Keith started attending New

Central Park around five years ago when Kelty joined the East of Scotland League.

Initially he was drawn to see some of the clubs from his old neck of the woods. He was instantly hooked.

“When I started watching the games, it was absolutely fantastic football,” he said.

“Put it this way, it was a lot better than watching the big games on television.

“It’s been like that every year: good-quality football and they really put their heart and soul into it.”

Despite the successful arc the club is clearly on there is a realism at New

Central Park as they enter a division with a number of sides who will fancy their chances.

“We want to be competitive,” said Barrowman.

“We know it’s going to be a tough, tough league, with four full-time teams.

“As we progress up the levels we knew we were going to come to the stage where there are going to be tougher challenges.

“But we want to be competitive, we also want to challenge.

“We always want to keep progressing, on the pitch and off the pitch.”