Football Focus Issue 83 | Page 31

Peebles Rovers F orsyths P Est. 1938 of eebles Butchers & Bakers  “The Best of Local Scottish Borders Produce “ www.forsythsofpeebles.co.uk 01721 720833 management team are very mindful of the physical limitations they may have, so they are certainly not rushed into this environment. Having the talent is one thing but to play week in, week out takes a bit more than that. Our youngest player at the moment has just turned 18 but he signed when he was 16 and has quickly established himself as a regular in the side. For others, it may take longer but if they have the right mind-set and work ethic, then age is certainly not a barrier for them here.” Community “We are absolutely a community club. As we have already noted, two thirds of the squad are local and more and more local businesses are coming on board in one way or another. As we don’t have a player pathway under the Peebles Rovers banner, we do not comply with the SFA requirements of being a community club but in terms of community engagement and player involvement then we certainly feel we are making great strides.” we need to try to keep pace with this change. Unfortunately, the setting of our ground is holding us back to a degree as we are limited in terms of changes we can make even if we were able to gain the financial backing. Scottish Borders Council has been very supportive over the last year or so which has allowed us to get the pitch enclosed on a semi-permanent basis. However, even with that, our ground, changing and hospitality facilities are still well behind those of the majority of our peers so the major challenge is to look beyond what we have now and see how we can improve these facilities. On the pitch, the clear challenge is trying to compete against sides with player budgets when our players are there for the love of the game. We’ve been delighted with how they have stood up to this challenge until now but it would be great to be in a position to give them a little financial reward for all their efforts.” Ambitions “Our ambitions are a bit of a wish list but there would be little point in being here if we didn’t want to try to improve. First and foremost, we want to be as successful as possible on the pitch and to continue to provide football at this level for the local community. To really take the club to the next level though, it’s off the park we need to concentrate a lot of our efforts. Improving facilities to the point we can gain an SFA license and once again qualify for entry to the Scottish Cup is where we really want this club to be.” Challenges “With the recent influx of ex-junior sides into the senior ranks and the prospect of more to come this summer, www.footballfocusmag.com 31