'This was our dream': New £1.8m sports hub opens in Glasgow

Smith, who set up Hillwood Boys Club football team back in 1966, was joined by former First Minister and Glasgow Pollok MSP Humza Yousaf and ex-players David McCracken and Peter MacDonald as well as many sponsors, trustees, volunteers and supporters at a ribbon-cutting ceremony.

The hub comprises four changing rooms, a multi-purpose hall, a fully-fitted kitchen, a synthetic pitch and a grass pitch and will be used by the 300 players, who range in age from three to adult, who represent the 14 teams Hillwood Football Club run as well as other local organisations.

It has been constructed with the help of funding from the Greater Pollok Barratt Community Development Trust, Land Trust, Sport Scotland, the Scottish Football Association, Glasgow City Council, the Scottish Football Partnership, the Robertson Trust and the Clothworkers Foundation.

It will operate as part of a network of local community sports hubs which are being supported by Glasgow City Council as part of their strategy to develop and increase the opportunities for local people to participate in sport, leisure and recreational activities.

“This was our dream,” said Smith. “Our community hub has only been formed by people being proactive and selfless. There is an abundance of talent in our communities. We just need to tap into it and encourage participation. I have become increasingly aware of how true this is within the Greater Pollok area.

“We have, like so many organisations, had our fair share of setbacks, not least Covid and Brexit. They have caused us problems. Nevertheless, we have continued with enthusiasm, have been helped by the can do attitude of our supporters and have finally completed our project.

“I am indebted to those funding organisations who believed enough in this project by approving our funding applications. We have been strongly supported in our ambitions by our anchor club, Hillwood Football Club. I am happy to report the bookings are very healthy.”

Many Hillwood Football Club players have gone on to play professionally and represent their countries over the years – including Kenny Burns, Alex McLeish, Tommy Coyne, Owen Coyle and Ross McCormack.

McCracken, who turned out at centre-half for Dundee United, Wycombe Wanderers, MK Dons, Brentford, St Johnstone and Falkirk during his playing career, is indebted to Hillwood for the start they gave him in the game and predicted their sports hub will enable them to go from strength to strength in the years to come.

“I first started with them in 1992,” he said. “We used to train on the red ash parks down at Bellarmine Secondary School. Willie has been like a dog with a bone with this project for years and years. The players who are coming through now have got far better facilities because of what he has done and the money he has raised.

“Some League 2, League 1 and Championship clubs in Scotland don’t have facilities like this. They are still training on junior parks, don’t have a stable training set up. I think we will see more Hillwood players going into senior clubs and making it as professionals and internationalists now. Willie deserves great credit for what he has done.”

MacDonald, who played for St Johnstone, Morton and Dundee and who is Smith’s nephew, feels the sports hub will also benefit the local people greatly.

“I played here from when I was six until I was 14 and signed an S-form with Rangers,” he said. “I had eight good years here. It was a great grounding. There weren’t many things for kids to do in Pollok back then, there still aren’t today. Football dragged you away from a culture of crime, drugs and drink. It was massive.

“If you ask anyone in Pollok they will tell you that Hillwood Football Club is at the forefront of the community. My uncle Wille has put his whole life into this hub. He has been talking for years about getting money and grants to build it. It is brilliant. It can only help the community.”