Dundee F.C. Trust gung-ho over training center

Article posted by Coliseum, November 20^th, 2024

Image: Dundee Football Club

The Dundee Football Club Community Trust (DFCCT) (Dundee, Scotland, UK) has announced that the Dundee City Council has approved the planning application for a new football training center and community hub at the Riverside Pitches.

‘dundeefc.co.uk’ stated that the new football training center and the community hub involves the DFCCT, the Riverside West End (a football club in Dundee, Scotland that offers football opportunities for people of all ages) and the Dundee F.C.

The Dundee Football Club is a professional football club based in the City of Dundee, Scotland (UK) and was founded in 1893. It plays in the Scottish Premiership, the top division of the Scottish Professional Football League (SPFL). The team are nicknamed ‘The Dark Blues’ or ‘The Dee’. The club plays its home matches at the Dens Park.

The Dens Park, officially known as the Scot Foam Stadium for sponsorship reasons, is a football stadium in Dundee, Scotland (UK) which is the home of the Scottish Premiership club Dundee F.C. and has a capacity of 11,775.

Glasgow (UK)-based the Scottish Professional Football League (SPFL) is the national men’s association football league in Scotland. The league was formed in June 2013 following a merger between the Scottish Premier League and the Scottish Football League.

Dundee (UK)-based the Dundee Football Club Community Trust (DFCCT) is an independent Scottish Charitable Incorporated Organization incorporated in November 2017 to deliver health, well-being and inclusion programs to the disadvantaged adults and youths living in Dundee and the surrounding areas.

The Dundee City Council is the local authority for Dundee City, one of the 32 Council areas of Scotland (UK). In its modern form it was created in 1996.

‘dundeefc.co.uk’ further stated that the above training center will offer combined training amenities for a diverse range of youth teams and facilitate an enhanced girls and women’s program. It will also deliver other inclusive initiatives such as walking football, women’s recreational football, healthy lifestyle, and wellbeing initiatives. The facility will also be a training center for the Dundee Football Club’s first team.

Enthused Laura Costello Manager, DFCCT, “We are over the moon to find out that the football training center and the community hub at Riverside has been approved by the Council. This new facility will change things dramatically for the Trust and will really serve the people of Dundee. The one big problem we have is trying to get facilities in the City meaning our programs are currently operating out of different venues. Having a permanent home at Riverside will mean that all of our programs will run from the same location. It will also be massive for our girls’ and women’s programs as for the first time they will be using the same facilities that the boys and men use.”

The new facility will also be used by the Riverside West End who currently has 280 children playing for them at all age groups from four to 17. The new facility will give more children the opportunity to be involved with them.

Stated Steven Mackie, Riverside West End Chairperson, “The Riverside West End F.C. is delighted with the decision to approve the planning application to build a new training facility on Riverside. This facility will not only be a huge benefit to the Riverside West End, the DFC Community Trust and the DFC, it will have far-reaching benefits to the City of Dundee. We look forward to working in partnership with the Dundee F.C., the Dundee FC Community Trust and the SFA to develop a shared purpose of increasing grassroots and community football provision in Dundee.”

The Dundee Football Club will serve as an anchor for this application and the community-based activities of the proposed center while also strengthening the connection between the professional and community-based sports in Dundee.

Added John Nelms, Dundee F.C. Managing Director, “The above news is extremely significant for the City of Dundee. The training facility and the community hub will deliver programs and opportunities through the DFCCT that reach everyone from toddlers all the way to the senior citizens. It will allow the DFCCT to deliver more programs and reach even more people in the City. It will give the young players, both boys and girls, a place to play football with the Riverside West End and it will also act as the new training location for the Dundee F.C. This will inspire the young children as they will be trained at the same facility as the club’s first team.”

The DFCCT has secured investment through the Scottish Football Association’s (FA’s – the governing body of football in Scotland) Grassroots Pitch and Facilities Fund (a partnership between the Scottish Football Association and the UK Government to invest in football facilities across Scotland) and the UK Government’s Levelling Up Fund (a program that invests in the local infrastructure). The investment will be match-funded by the owners of the Dundee Football Club who are committed supporters of the club’s charitable trust.

Information regarding the start date for the work on the new training center and the community hub will be issued in due course.

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