Midlothian mum's anger at unplayable pitches leaving her football-mad twin girls without matches at Gore Glen

The mother of two football-mad twin girls has hit out at Midlothian Council for still taking money for unplayable Gorebridge pitches that leave local footballers on the sidelines most weekends.

Sarah Murray, 44,  is pleading to the local council in Midlothian to invest in its playing fields after hundreds of children have been left disappointed over waterlogged pitches leading to cancelled games, including her daughters, Newbattle High School pupils Sophie and Lucie, both 12.  

Sarah has started a petition after growing angry at the amount of times her girls’ Arniston Diamonds home matches at Gore Glen are postponed by a referee just ahead of kick-off, with the club still having to pay the local authority to use the football pitches at the Gorebridge playing fields.

She said: “Gorebridge has always had not the best facilities, but more recently it has got worse and its now ridiculous. This has led to numerous game cancellations and very soon training sessions will also be affected. It’s game after game being called off.

“I started this petition as the girls move to a summer training school soon, which is down at Gore Glen. I’m worried they might go week after week without training. It’s like a swamp down there at some parts of the pitches.

“I don’t think they have played a game at home this year, because the pitches are unplayable. Their club has tried to do what it can to get games on, sweeping the pitch etc, but then a referee comes along and calls it off.

“When you walk on the pitch it just squelches. This weekend, games might be moved to the other team’s pitch, which has happened a few times already. Then it’s the travel costs for parents, it adds up.

“We pay Midlothian Council for that pitch then the referee will cancel the game, but the council still takes the money. I don’t think the council has called any game off, maybe just the once, it’s usually the referee or us. We don’t want to force the girls to play on pitches that they might get hurt on.”

Sarah is worried the state of the pitches at Gore Glen puts local girls off playing football and thinks the growing town of Gorebridge should have better facilities provided by the local authority.

She said: “At a time when there is a real drive to get more girls into football, they should be doing everything they can to have playable pitches for them to play on.

“We just want a playable and reliable pitch, so games don’t keep getting postponed. We have got a very small astro pitch they can use, but there are so many local teams that use it, so they can’t all use it at the same time.

“Really, the reason I started the petition was just to create a bit of noise as nobody was doing anything. Everybody has just accepted that this happens.

“We have been looking at funding for a new 3G pitch but that could be a long time away. I just want Midlothian Council to do something to make the current pitches more playable.

“There are so many new houses here in Gorebridge built in recent years, there must be more money coming into the area, but we are not seeing it spent here to benefit locals including our young footballers.”

A Midlothian Council spokesman spoke of a commitment to improving existing football pitches at nearby Newbyres Park, she said: “We’re not aware of this petition but more details on how the organiser can submit it to be considered by our petitions committee can be found on the council website at www.midlothian.gov.uk/petitions.

“With regards pitches in Gorebridge, following a report on the council’s outdoor football facilities published last year, we are in contact with Newbyres Community Trust and stakeholders to help them source funding and develop plans to improve existing facilities at Newbyres Park.”