Blantyre Soccer Academy (BSA) is to take over ownership of Larkfield Hall and the associated land around it, including the football pitch, after its application for a community asset transfer was approved by the council.

In 2019, BSA bought the former Rowan Hall in Blantyre from the council and, in 2021, took on the adjoining open space, from which they now operate a community hub and garden.

BSA is now looking to expand their activity and to create a home base for their community football club, including develop a synthetic pitch for training and matches.

The purchase, for £13,300, of the former Larkfield Hall and the adjoining Stonefield Road pitches will allow them to press forward with plans to invest an initial £1.029m in the pitch upgrade, for which BSA has already secured an offer of £700,000 towards this investment from the Scottish FA, as part of the Grassroots Football Facilities Fund provided by Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport.

The club is in discussion with a number of other funders and is also looking to create a five-a-side pitch and changing facilities, with the total investment expected to be £1.5m.

The hall closed several years ago and the pitches are rarely used for sport. The pitches are also on the site of a former bing and therefore that land is not suitable for housing or other construction. The sale will save the council around £5000 a year in the cost of maintaining the vacant hall and it is estimated that around £30,000 is required for immediate repairs, which BSA will take on.

BSA operates 25 teams for young people from the age of 10 up to 20, including female and disabled teams.

Jimmy Whelan, Chairperson at BSA said: “This has been a long arduous task behind the scenes, working tirelessly to achieve our goal but it has been worth it. We gathered evidence through our community consultation and received strong public support for our application.

“It is great news for the community of Blantyre, seeing a redundant community hall being transformed to a new community social hub and a football pitch that has been disused for 40 years being rejuvenated into a state-of-the-art 4G sports facility, with both being available to all in our area.

“Our vision and dream since our inception in 2010 was always to have a home within the town that we could call our own, and where we could create a community cohesion within Blantyre without having to travel all over to play and train.

“This has come to fruition and the hard work starts now to ensure the sustainability that will ensure the future of football and other opportunities in our community.”

BSA has experience in managing property, and has been successful in obtaining funding and delivering a range of community-based projects in the past.

Davie McLachlan, Chair of the Housing and Technical Resources Committee, said: “Community Asset Transfers are a good way for local organisations to step in and work with the council and others to find a new lease of life for community assets that are not currently fulfilling their potential.

“I look forward to seeing Blantyre Soccer Academy making progress with their plans, including attracting investment funds from the SFA and others, to improve this facility for the benefit of local people, especially children, for decades to come.”