Hutchison Vale Football Club leader Tam Smith blasts conditions of Capital's football pitches

The leader of an Edinburgh football club has blasted the state of the Capital’s football pitches which he said are the worst they’ve been in more than 40 years.

An empty pitch in Cairntows Park, Craigmillar

Tam Smith, who has worked in grassroots football since 1978, said football pitches in the city were “awful” and that not enough is being done by Edinburgh council to maintain them.

He said that he feels that groundskeepers do not have to resources to maintain all Edinburgh Leisure parks and said this was negatively affecting children who play the sport.

Smith said: “Generally speaking, the maintenance on the pitches are poor. The lack of grass cutting, the lack of pitch maintenance, it’s very much the basics you get.

“It’s not good enough. It reflects the attitude of the council and the attitude towards children and the sport. The sport and provision since Edinburgh Leisure took over has been awful.”

He said when he started working in amateur football over four decades ago, Edinburgh’s football pitches were “impeccable”, but now he believes that the “facilities have never been worse.”

“You never got pitches where the grass was too long; the parks were always well lined,” he said.

Mr Smith added: “We have talked to staff who do the ground care and they’re [worked] right down to the bone.

“I think the guys that are doing it are doing a magnificent job with the very little resources that they’ve got. They very rarely get new machinery.”

The Hutchie Vale leader spoke out after the council was criticised for calling off youth teams’ Sunday games last week despite glorious sunshine – a move which parents said was leaving their children with nothing to do at the weekend.

He believes more investment should be made into grassroots football and says that time and time again the council demonstrate that youth football fails to make the agenda.

“There has to be investment in children in general, but also in sporting provision.”

Smith explained that an example of how funding into sport is deprived can be seen in the development of Saughton Park.

“Part of that plan was to upgrade the pitches, but they had to cut something, so guess what they cut? They didn’t cut anything to with the flowers, plants and trees, the walkways or the café that they built. They did away with upgrading the pitches.

“We’re bottom of the pile and we’re very much made to feel the bottom of the pile.

“It’s not good running a club. It was a lot easier in 1978 to be involved with kid’s football than it is now, I’ll put it that way.”

In response, a council spokesperson said: “During the growing season all grass pitches are cut to the height required as per our Landscape Quality Standards, however during the traditional playing season the biggest impact on the condition of the pitches is the weather.”

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