Edinburgh football pitches: Outrage as youth games called off despite ‘perfect’ weather

A council’s controversial decision to close football and rugby pitches which were deemed “unplayable” has sparked outrage among youth teams and parents.

Let us know what you think and join the conversation at the bottom of this article.

All but two of Edinburgh Leisure’s 27 parks were closed by the council at the weekend – a move which resulted in the cancellation of many youth matches across the city.

Parents of the children have complained about the closures, which left children with nothing to do at the weekend. They also added that Sunday was “perfect weather” for a football match.

An empty pitch at Bingham on Sunday

One parent said: “The kids have missed so much sport recently with the lockdowns that it is really frustrating to miss more game time than is absolutely necessary.

“It was an absolutely glorious day on Sunday, perfect for a game. I get that the rain earlier in the week will have caused issues on some pitches, but some of the pitches were clearly playable and there was no justification for such a blanket call off.”

The decision to close all Edinburgh Leisure-run pitches was made on Friday and despite Sunday seeing glorious sunshine, the verdict was not revised.

Another parent said: “These blanket cancellations happen too often. And when you go to take a look at the pitches themselves, they're absolutely fine.

A deserted pitch in Gyle on Sunday

“It's the kids who suffer. For many of them this is the main bit of exercise they have all week. When Edinburgh Leisure decide it's a weekend off, they've nothing else to do.

“It's galling when the weather has been dry all weekend, and it's clearly playable. You get the impression they can't be bothered. And they are the only people in kids football who are getting paid.”

A City of Edinburgh Council spokesperson said the decision was taken after “persistent poor weather” and “subsequent damage” to the pitches.

“These closures are to prevent long term damage.

An empty pitch in Cairntows Park, Craigmillar

"We apologise for the inconvenience caused, however, if play were to go ahead during these conditions it could mean the pitches would need to be closed for longer periods in the future to allow repairs to take place.”

An Edinburgh councillor has now called for more autonomy to be given to football clubs, which would allow them to make a decision based on the pitch conditions in their own areas.

Councillor Mark Brown said there could be “more leeway offered to clubs to make a decision locally as opposed to a centralised ruling over the state of the pitches”.

He added: “I think we all want to have full availability of pitches to allow people to utilize these spaces. We all know how vitally important sport is for people young and old alike for physical and mental health.

“I think there perhaps needs to be more of a call to allow for the clubs to make that decision nearer to kickoff rather than some blanket ban, allowing more kids to enjoy the sports they’ve trained hard all week for.”

A message from the Editor:

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

If you haven't already, please consider supporting our trusted, fact-checked journalism by taking out a digital subscription.