SCOTTISH FOOTBALL

PIES AND BOVRIL

On this blog you will notice that I have a statcounter logo, this shows me the breakdown of how many visitors are coming from where and the last place you have been... obviously virtually this is why I am aware of a forum all about football called pie and bovril. Checked it out and they are talking (as are a lot of others) about the St Mirren training complex at Penilee and a lot of the sentiments are those echoed in the blackandwhitearmy site, however there are a few things I wanted to clear up...

1. Ralston is in Paisley, and in Renfrewshire.
2. The new boundaries were not as a result of any suggestion by the Labour group but were in fact the original proposals of the Boundary Commission.
3. The proposals for the St Mirren training complex were put to the Community and Family Care policy board and the Labour members voted for it, the Liberal, and SNP members voted against it. In fact the Liberals tried to stop it through the planning committee as well (aided by the SNP's Cllr Mylet). The report to the Community and Family Care allowed the Council officers to go forward with the proposals and bring a more in depth report back to a future committee.
4. St Mirren are actually contributing around £470,000, the £120,000 capital contribution and £10,000 for rent, on top of this they will also maintain the area which costs about £25,000 annually, the rent and maintenance will be over 10 years.
5. Paisley is not losing more pitches, the Glasgow Airport Rail link will mean that the St James playing fields loses two pitches out of 22 at present (many of which are unplayable if it rains). The remaining 20 will be upgraded with proper drainage and excellent new changing facilities. Seedhill is being upgraded, and pitches around Renfrewshire will be upgraded while the work in St James for the rail link is underway so that no facilities will be lost while construction is underway.

Hope that helps! Anyone wanting more information on the proposals should check out previous post on this website and check out Renfrewshire Council's website and check out the report put to the Community and Family Care board.

I know that there have been other questions and some bizarre assertions on this forum but thought the top were the ones that needed the most attention, especially the one about Ralston not being in Renfrewshire.

STILL ON ST MIRREN AND THE LIBERALS

The Paisley Daily Express today is carrying an article on the anger of St Mirren fans to the Lib Dem plans to block the St Mirren training facility at Penilee...

'Seething St Mirren fans are urging Buddies to give the Lib-Dems the boot at the ballot box. Supporters are angry that the Liberals are trying to delay a multi-million pound project which would transform the crumbling Penilee pavilion into a super sports complex.' Paisley Daily Express (Andy Newport) 27th March 2007

It seems that the blackandwhitearmy.com website - a site for St Mirren's fans- has erupted into fury over the Lib Dems, it quotes one fan as saying ...

'The Liberal Democrats are going around trying to drum up support to stop the St Mirren training complex and youth academy at Penilee going ahead. With an election coming up I thought political parties would do things to attract voters - not put them off. Maybe they should remember that there are an awful lot of St Mirren fans who support the idea of the club having a proper training set-up and who have a vote in the May elections.'

There are a lot of mistruths going round about this particular project and the Lib Dems have put round a leaflet trying to scare the people of the community into organising against it, this tells us all we need to know. Instead of talking up the opportunities this gives the people of Ralston, the East End and Renfrewshire as a whole the Liberals are content to knock back any idea, unless of course they are pretty sure it won't go ahead, this way they can blame everyone else for their ineffectual conduct on the Council, both Jim and I are behind St Mirren, behind the Council and behind this project.

I will leave you with the thoughts of one Paisley Buddie from the aforementioned webpage ...

'Not only should Saints fans all over Renfrewshire not vote for the Lib-Dems we should be getting out there and exposing their underhand tactics as a cheap way of getting votes in Ralston at the expense of St Mirren.'

LIB DEMS WOULD RATHER HAVE A 'PUB' THAN FOOTBALL PARKS

Paisley East and Ralston blog has an interesting article on the current situation with the Liberal Democrats and St Mirren over the Penilee pavilion, worth a look (I would say that being one of the candidates!) I have digested the post here...

The Lib-Dem councillor for Ralston would rather see what amounts to a pub being built at Penilee Playing Fields instead of a football academy for youngsters and a training facility for St Mirren. Jim Sharkey, who is secretary of Ralston Community Council and whose house looks on to the playing fields was speaking after he attended a public meeting called by Lib-Dem Councillor Nan Macgregor who opposes plans to redevelop the derelict playing fields and pavilion.

Mr Sharkey, who will be one of two Labour candidates in Ralston and Paisley East in the council elections in May, said:

"Councillor MacGregor told the public meeting she would rather the playing fields be given over to a local rugby club who had previously proposed building a licensed clubhouse beside the pitches and licensed premises is something the vast majority of people in Ralston don’t want to see there."I have been knocking on doors and the message I have been getting is that people just want something positive to happen to the Penilee Playing Fields as the place has been derelict for years. This is exactly what is being proposed."