Euan McGrory: Murrayfield could be home to a sports village

The Capital has suffered some blows to its standing as a major sporting city in recent years.

The gradual decline and then closure of the athletics stadium and velodrome at Meadowbank has left the city unable to host international athletics or train the next generation of superstar cyclists. It is a decade since the grand vision of building a replacement athletics stadium – and rugby arena – at Sighthill was abandoned. While Glasgow, supported by Commonwealth Games cash, has opened a string of top class facilities, Edinburgh has been left looking like the poor cousin.

The decline should not be overstated. Oriam, the national performance centre, now offers elite training facilities at Riccarton, the refurbished Commie Pool is international class, and a £40 million sports centre is due to open at Meadowbank in 2020. Yet, for a capital city, there are precious few facilities for hosting major events, other than the obvious exceptions of football and international rugby. One long talked of proposal has been a “sports village” at Murrayfield where other top-class facilities surrounded the national rugby arena. It is early days, but the plans for a second arena may be a step in that direction.