Fans of watching clips showing the goals and action will have noticed a new structure being built at Annan’s Galabank ground over recent weeks. The newest members of the senior leagues in Scotland have again invested in the fabric of their stadium and have put a roof over the terracing that was built last year beside the artificial pitch that was laid the year before.
It is again evidence of Annan being one of the most progressive clubs in League 2 and whilst a lot has changed in the Dumfries and Galloway town the person pushing them remains the same and that is chairman Henry McClelland.
The SPFL Newsletter got in touch with Chairman McClelland to discuss this latest development and he said: “When the 3 G pitch was laid in the summer of 2012 we lost the terrace that ran alongside North Street as the pitch was widened. We became a 3 sided venue with the Main Stand and a terrace behind one goal and a flat area behind the goal at the Social Club end.”
“We upgraded that to a standing terracing during the first half of last season and that gave us capacity for 1000 more fans and we have now built a cover for that new terracing.”
It is a case of slow, steady and significant progress for Annan with McClelland saying: “The building of the roof has continued the gradual development of our ground since we were admitted to the senior ranks back in 2008.”
“We have a nice proper wee stadium now and whilst it looks good it is also important to give the fans a bit of comfort and protection from the weather. Fans like terracing and they can now have good options at our ground.”
“The thing with your ground is that you can never get complacent with it as if you do things won’t happen. We have now spent the best part of £1.3Million on Galabank since we joined the Scottish football League nearly 6 years ago.”
The club’s approach to progress has remained constant since swapping non-league football for the then Third Division as McClelland explained: “As people know we had applied for membership a few times and every time we did we showed a step by step improvement in our application. That approach has continued since we came in from the South of Scotland League.”
Any moves are well researched before a brick is laid with McClelland saying : “Of course we tap into the grants and any funding that is available and have been lucky that our applications have been backed well. We also have a great relationship with the Local Authority and I would say that we have a terrific association with the Scottish Football Partnership.”
“These moves all help with Club Licensing commitments as well. To receive a Bronze award from the SFA you have to have cover for more than 500 people and with this new roof and the existing stand we have cover for 1400 fans.”
The new terracing could have a name attached to it as McClelland advised: “Putting the roof on has been a massive step forward for the club. As well as help from centralised bodies there has been some local sponsorship involved which we are very grateful for as well.”
“We are thinking of giving the Terrace a name and we will take counsel from a number of parties before we do that.”
“The structural works are complete and the completion certificate has still to come but we are hoping that it will be in full use this Saturday when East Stirling visit.”
McClelland has seen a lot of change since first becoming involved at the club in the same year that Scotland went to Argentina in the World Cup.
“When I first came here in 1978 we had a cowshed to house the fans in a similar fashion to what you would have seen at a lot of non-league grounds then,” said McClelland before adding: “The pitch had a massive slope and we also had the added attraction of having an electric cable running between two pylons above the pitch from where the main stand is to behind the goals at the far end.”
“There were a few times that the defenders would think they had successful cleared the ball only for it to come back to them after hitting the cable. I am not sure if they wanted to kick after it hit the cable mind you.”
McClelland continued: “We had a small hut for the players to change in, which was basically a pre-fabricated building and we also had a small out building that housed the tractor and the roller that we used to roll the pitch with.”
“We did have a grassy training area however it was more glaur and mud and there was no floodlights either so we have come a long way.”
Things began to change before the seventies were out with McClelland advising: “Around that time we were admitted as members of the SFA and allowed to compete in the Scottish Cup. We drew Stranraer and the excitement of being involved in the Cup game at Galabank gave us the impetus to start changing things.”
“We have always gone for a step by step development approach and the most important step to that was ensuring that we could afford things. That is why the Social Club was built first. It provided revenue that allowed us to build other things with new changing rooms being the first major piece of change.”
“The clubhouse and social club have been extended over the years and will be again.”
McClelland and his colleagues are not for resting on their laurels as the Chairman explained: “We have plans to make Galabank even more of a Community Hub than it is now. We have plans that could see more than £1m spent on building conference facilities, a fitness suite as well as installing extra changing rooms.”
“The extra changing rooms would maximise the use of the artificial pitch and again use our own facilities to generate revenue.”
To make things work as well as using small steps Annan also do not travel too far as McClelland explained: “We firmly believe that the ‘Club is the Hub’ and we are fulfilling that function well in our local community in line with the recommendation of the Henry McLeish report in terms of Corporate and Social Responsibility.”
“We engage heavily with the community and we would not survive if we did not do that. We would never forgive ourselves if we ended up in financial trouble so we only do things when we can afford them.”
The spectre of once local rivals Gretna crumbling amid financial ruin is still seen in the south-west of the country and McClelland said: “It is a very, very simple model that we work to and that is we don’t spend it if we don’t have it. If you see the changes this club has gone through in the last 25 years that approach has served us well.”
“The Community has also served us well and hopefully we can continue to serve the Community well also. We can now do that with a roof over everyone’s head.”
