Local business support for junior football teams

The Shawlands eatery and live music venue was swamped with entries after launching a community competition aimed at Southside football teams.

Clubs were invited to write and explain why they deserved new football strips.

The pub recently blew the whistle on the competition, and following a massive response decided to extend the offer to two football clubs rather than one. The lucky winners being Cathcart and District Sports Academy (under 16s) and Shawlands FP AFC (over 16s).

Times have been tough for junior and amateur clubs, and nobody knows this better than Jill Ledgerwood at Cathcart and District Sports Academy.

She is thrilled that her players who had outgrown their current strips will now be kitted out and looking sharp.

“Cathcart and District Sports Academy is a team at the heart of the community in Cathcart, Merrylee and Muirend, bringing together children from schools across the Southside. We train every Monday and Thursday and play on Sunday mornings at Toryglen” said Jill.

“The team have outgrown the strips we have and we struggle to get the whole team properly kitted out for our matches.”

The over-16 lads at Shawlands FP AFC will proudly run out in their new gear soon and Charlie Miller, one of the club’s managers, is delighted with Michele’s backing.

He said: “Our football club has been running for more than 57 years and we were originally set up all those years ago to provide the chance for boys who didn’t get picked for Shawlands’ Academy to play football.

“As you can imagine, to keep a club running for so long takes a great amount of time and effort from people.

“People give up their spare time trying to get sponsorship from all the businesses in Shawlands. It has been incredibly difficult, so every donation certainly helps our local team and the guys who play for it.

“We greatly appreciate the new kit from The Shed.”