Ayrshire Post

Dam Park sale leads to sports shake up

Council bosses approve deal with rugby club

- RYAN THOM

The sale of one of Ayr’s prime sports venues will see a major shake up for football and rugby in the town.

Council chiefs agreed the sale of Dam Park last week to Ayr Rugby Football Club in a move that will see Whitletts Victoria returning to their home patch with the club set to lease Voluntary Park from the local authority.

Vics will grace the pitch at Whitletts for the first time in 11 years whilst Dam Park will become the new home for Ayr’s future rugby stars.

The Rugby Club will welcome Dam Park as a new facility to grow Ayr’s future stars of the game as they are set to launch ambitious plans for their Millbrae home ground.

Ayr Seaforth Athletics will also move from Dam Park to a new multi-million pound facility in Craigie with work commencing last summer.

For West of Scotland Football League Conference A outfit Vics, the move will come as a huge boost with plans to transform the current all-weather pitches on Glenmuir Place and renovate facilities.

And Vics have revealed the move could see the Scottish Cup brought to North Ayr as they launch ambitious plans to revamp facilities ahead of their long awaited homecoming.

Club spokesman John Dalton said: “Now the club can really start to plan the next stage of its developmen­t with the redevelopm­ent of the former pavilion into a new clubhouse and bringing the facilities up to a standard that will be suitable not only for the Club to play matches in the West of Scotland Football League but also help the Club achieve its goal of becoming a full member of the Scottish Football Associatio­n and playing in the Scottish Cup.”

Plans include transformi­ng the current pavilion at the Whitletts all-weather pitches into a new clubhouse and creating a sheltered standing area for fans. The move back home will also continue the great work seen by the club’s charity Vics in the Community who are set to take on the running of the football facility on a long term lease, running all its activities from the park - including youth football.

Since forming in 2018, the charity has supported residents through the Covid crisis by delivering 10,000 meals and are continuing to help during the current cost of living crisis.

Vice-president Brian Williamson of Ayr Rugby Football Club said: “Ayr Rugby is delighted with the acquisitio­n of Dam Park as an additional playing facility.

“This news will come alongside the existing plans to redevelop Millbrae and puts the club in a fruitful position. This is a great boost for both the club and the local area.”

A council spokesman said: “We’ve agreed to sell Dam Park Stadium to Ayr Rugby Club. This is brilliant for local rugby, as the club will now expand its youth section hopefully developing some future stars. Ayr Seaforth Athletics Club will move to the new sports facility that’s being built at Craigie Park, while Whitletts Vics FC will relocate to Voluntary Park at Glenmuir Place.

“We’ll lease the all-weather pitch at Voluntary Park to Vics in the Community, allowing them to grow football locally. The changing pavilion will be included in the lease, so the group can upgrade it and expand their work to improve lives on and off the pitch.”

Junior outfit Whitletts Victoria will return to their spiritual home after 11 years of playing their football in Ayr’s Dam Park. The West of Scotland League club is delighted to get the chance to move to Glenmuir Place, Whitletts, in a deal brokered by all the stakeholde­rs last week.

The club, who used to play their home games at Voluntary Park, moved to Dam Park in Ayr after their previous base closed down. However, their current base has been sold to Ayr Rugby Club as part of a major shake-up of local sports, meaning the Vics will now move into a new facility in Glenmuir Place, Whitletts, once renovation works are complete. Whitletts Victoria spokespers­on John Dalton, beamed :“This is tremendous news that after an 11-year stay at Dam Park the club can now plan our return home to Whitletts.”

See page 3 for the full story.

 ?? ?? On the ball
Club Secretary John Dalton, pictured at Whitletts Activity Centre, with Craig MacMorland
On the ball Club Secretary John Dalton, pictured at Whitletts Activity Centre, with Craig MacMorland
 ?? ?? New era Vics stalwart John Dalton is excited about what the future holds for his club
New era Vics stalwart John Dalton is excited about what the future holds for his club

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