This item was published during the term of a previous administration that ended in April 2007
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£14.5 million football facility given green light
13/07/2006
Construction work on new world class football training facilities, backed by Executive cash, was today given the go ahead.
The £14.5 million Toryglen project in Glasgow, comprising indoor football facilities and outdoor pitches, will kick-off in September.
The Executive, through its sports agency sportscotland, is supporting the project with £3 million. Glasgow City Council is providing the rest - £11.5 million - towards the project.
It is first of ten projects to receive stage two approval under the Executive's £50 million National and Regional Sports Facilities Strategy, which includes £21.2 million from sportscotland's Lottery Sports Fund.
Hundreds of schoolchildren from throughout Glasgow will have access to the facilities as part of the Executive's Active Schools Programme.
It will also play a key role in driving forward the SFA's action plan for youth football.
Ms Ferguson said:
"The Scottish Executive and its partners are investing tens of millions of pounds in new training and competition facilities across Scotland through the national and regional sports facilities strategy.
"Having state of the art facilities can help realise our sporting ambitions. Not only will they help nurture our young sports stars of tomorrow, but they will encourage wider participation in sport and physical activity, which improves health, develops self-confidence and improves quality of life."
Cllr John Lynch, Executive Member for Cultural & Leisure Services said:
"Toryglen is a unique football development and the perfect neighbour for the National Stadium at Hampden. It will be a wonderful addition to the existing top-class sporting facilities in Glasgow.
"I'm especially pleased that the new facility will be widely used across the community as well as by top-class professional footballers."
Julia Bracewell OBE, Chair of sportscotland said:
"Quality accessible facilities are vital if sport is to thrive in Scotland. There needs to be the right quality and mix of facilities across the country which meets national, regional and local requirements, helping to develop future successful sporting generations.
"It is great to see the first project from the National and Regional Sports Facilities Strategy gaining stage two approval. This is an important football facility, close to Hampden and will be the first full-size indoor pitch in Scotland and a key training and competition facility for Glasgow."
The aim of the Executive's National and Regional Sports Facilities Strategy is to develop a network of multi-sport facilities across Scotland (covering the Area Institute Network), including a national indoor arena and two versatile municipal stadia.
The remaining nine projects which received allocations, subject to successful completion of their stage two applications are located in: Falkirk, Stirling, Edinburgh, Aberdeen, Glasgow and North Lanarkshire.