Stow
AFC
LADHOPE INN
Fantastic beer , lovely surroundings , live music and good banter . what more could u ask for !!!! Proud sponsors of Stow Amateur Football Club
01896 752 446
33 High Buckholmside , TD1 2 Galashiels
were forced to play on a Friday evening , Saturday evening or Sunday afternoon which didn ’ t suit a team where players are set to play on Saturday Afternoons .”
Youth
“ We ’ ve considered introducing youth football and we have ran coaching for the local youngsters however the local youth set up is pretty well organised in the Borders and the ‘ Senior ’ clubs in the area have a structured pathway for children of all ages . Rural clubs struggle to compete and tend to find that any players showing potential are soon cherry picked by the bigger clubs leaving the smaller clubs with depleted numbers .”
Community
“ We are a community club in the respect that we are central to the village . We have provided a sporting outlet for quite a few of the local boys . We try and get involved where we can , allowing use of the club facilities during the village civic week and liaising with the community council etc . with regard to making the most of the park . We managed to persuade The Borders Railway Project and local council to fund and site permanent goalposts suitable for child use alongside the main pitch . They get regular use and it ’ s good to see local children having a ‘ good kickabout ’, a rare sight these days .”
Commercial
“ Being a small amateur club we rely on local companies , former and current players to help fund the club . We have a club website : www . stowfc . co . uk , a
Facebook page and also a Twitter account : @ StowAFC which we use where possible to promote any sponsorship and events . We also run a weekly draw to offset ever increasing costs .”
Challenges
“ Other than the increasing amount of administration red tape which the powers that be seem to delight in introducing , replacing the more mature players with younger versions is always a challenge . Having a reputation of a well organised , reasonably successful club helps but in my opinion the amateur game is in decline and needs a financial injection and a revamp of some sort .
Another worry is the lack of referees ; there are fewer coming into the game and the majority of players , who retire , finish completely and don ’ t put anything back into the game they ’ ve played for possibly 25 years or more .”
Ambitions
“ Our ambitions are survival and success ! We hope to build on what we have and consolidate our playing and financial base . A new changing facility would also be an achievement and necessity but making sure the club continues at its present level is the least we would hope to achieve .” www . sportip . biz 61