[Junior football, what is the future?]

26 minutes ago, BENJI BOY said:

No but they have had large amounts of taxpayers money pumped into them that the successful Penicuik team hasn't.

 

Midlothian Council provided Penicuk Athletic with the land, sports pitch & equipment, perimeter fence, covered enclosure, floodlights and changing pavilion.  How does that set them apart from Dalkeith and Easthouses? 

Both clubs have invested their own time and money in upgrading changing rooms, portaloos, landscaping, pitch improvements and club development.

[Junior football, what is the future?]

2 minutes ago, Burnie_man said:

Great to hear what is being achieved, my only criticism is the chopping down of the trees at Kings Park which was a very mediocre decision

Cheers.

We had to remove the embankment at main the entrance to create level access for disabled supporters.  According to the Landscape Officer the trees were 'over mature' and had to be removed on safety grounds.  I liked them too but they were only fairly ordinary, common, average, workaday Poplars.  

[Junior football, what is the future?]

2 hours ago, Khufu2 said:

mediocre

1. of only average quality; not very good.

1. "he is an enthusiastic if mediocre painter"

   synonyms:

   ordinary, common, commonplace, indifferent, average, middle-of-the-road, middling, medium, moderate, everyday, workaday, tolerable, passable, adequate, fair; More

 

Nobody at Dalkeith is too offended by this, but we are determined to improve the club beyond your 'not very good' description.

What you probably don't realise is that over the last 5-6 years our Community Club has steadily grown to 400+ playing members including around 50 girls in addition to 40 qualified coaches. We have a disabled football section, over 50s walking football, our over 35s won their league 2 years in a row, our Sunday Ams got to the Scottish Cup semi-final the season before last,  we have 2 adult Futsal teams and will have an Under 20s development side next season, and plans are in place for a Women's team. We are one of only two East Region Junior clubs to have an SFA accredited club Chaplain. 

Last year our own training facility was upgraded to 3G astro and by the end of the year we'll have access to a full size 3G training pitch.  Our SFA Club Licensing application is being processed now so we have been making improvements to the ground and are developing things accordingly.

Dalkeith is the 'county town', and Midlothian is the fastest growing Local Authority in Scotland with 4000 new houses to be built within 3 miles of the town centre over the next 10 years.  A new train station was opened  at Eskbank in 2015, and the main visitor attraction at Dalkeith Country Park has benefited from considerable investment by Buccleuch Estates.

The town is definitely on the up and it deserves a strong football club for the locals to follow.  You can only wait and see if Dalkeith Thistle's potential is realised, or if it is still 'mediocre' in 5 years time.