Community Choices: Syngenta appealing for your votes for new home ground in Grangemouth

Syngenta Juveniles FC are hoping to receive £100,300 from the Community Choices Capital Programme to turn their plans into reality.

Players who have turned out for the club then gone on to have professional careers include Rangers and Everton’s Duncan Ferguson, Dundee’s Greg Stewart and more recently Kevin O’Hara who played for Falkirk and is now at Dunfermline.

Initially known as ICI Juveniles, they were based at the playing fields at Earlsgate Roundabout but when that land was sold off to Asda for its distribution warehouse they were without a base.

For the last few years they have had a nomadic existence playing at a variety of venues, including Little Kerse and Falkirk Stadium community pitches, as well as schools across the district.

Vice-chairman and coach Kevin McGuire has been with the club since 2005 and has been involved in the initiative to establish a new permanent home alongside Grangemouth High School.

Their ambitious plans would see a new 3G pitch installed and the former rugby pitches developed as a new grass sports field.

Kevin said: “We believe this plan will not only benefit those at Syngenta, but everyone at Grangemouth High and the wider community.

"By delivering this access to professional all-weather sports facilities, it will be a constructive and positive contribution to the area and will benefit the entire community, including the 23 per cent of kids who live below the breadline, the large pan-disability community and the higher-than-average percentage of vulnerable over 50 year-olds that live in Grangemouth.

“The school have been very receptive to our ideas and they can see the benefit of what we want to see installed, including a spectator fence and changing rooms with toilet facilities.”

There are currently around 450 players with Syngenta, aged from 18 months to adults, playing in 29 teams, including their under 19s and first team which plays in the East of Scotland League.

They are supported by 70 volunteers and a board of ten.

Thank you for reading this article on our free-to-read website. We're more reliant on your support than ever as the shift in consumer habits brought about by Coronavirus impacts our advertisers.

Please consider purchasing a subscription to our print newspaper to help fund our trusted, fact-checked journalism.

https://www.localsubsplus.co.uk/nord/dm/FKH/V