Rovers make plans for Cliftonhill

Albion Rovers Chairman John Devlin has halted years of the club planning to move away from their Cliftonhill home of 95 years and opted to redevelop the Coatbridge ground instead.

Devlin, who was appointed to his post at the start of the season and captured headlines last weekend with the ‘Pay what you Can’ game against Montrose, has ended the club’s search for a new home.

He said: “Previous Boards have spent considerable time and effort on looking at alternative facilities and locations for the Club to operate from, sometimes to the further detriment of Cliftonhill. There has been no viable alternative to Cliftonhill identified to date.

"Across Scotland, and indeed the UK, we have witnessed many examples of football clubs being uprooted from their traditional homes and relocated to soulless out-of-town sites or, worse still, to another town altogether.

“Some clubs unfortunately are forced to lead a bit of a nomadic life, moving from ground to ground and town to town on a constant basis. This often results in clubs damaging their identity and losing long-established connections with their traditional fan-base.

“In the absence of any immediate, viable alternatives our plan is to remain at our spiritual home at Cliftonhill. The current Board at Albion Rovers is determined that we remain at the heart of Coatbridge.”

Cliftonhill has a capacity of just over 1,000 and Devlin added: "As you would expect with such a traditional building, it has been an uphill struggle to maintain the condition of the facility at Cliftonhill. We have also suffered set-backs from unfortunate incidences of break-ins and vandalism.

“Ongoing remedial works, combined with a backdrop of ever-increasing Health & Safety conditions, have led to areas of the ground falling into neglect and dilapidation.”

Indeed, the club had to move a recent Scottish Cup time against Motherwell to Hamilton’s New Douglas Park after their snack bar was subject to a fire caused after a break-in. That area is the first to benefit from the club’s long-term commitment to the ground, with Devlin advising: “Cliftonhill is a vital asset and, with it being wholly owned by us, allows us to be in control of our own destiny.

“Work is in progress to re-instate the cafe facility and this is scheduled to be completed ahead of the Scottish Cup Fifth Round tie on February 8 against Stenhousemuir. We can confirm that the game will be played at Cliftonhill.”

There will be more work carried out, with Devlin saying: “We have agreed a structured way forward that combines necessary short-term improvements in parallel with mid-to-long term redevelopments.”

With immediate effect, we are commencing works to make necessary repairs to the roof of the main stand and making improvements to the Jock Stein hospitality lounge. This will be followed by similar upgrades to the Supporters Lounge area prior to the start of next season.”

Having also switched a Ramsdens Cup tie against Rangers to Livingston’s Energy Assets Arena this season, Devlin is keen for Cliftonhill to have an increased capacity.

Devlin explained: “We are limited in terms of capacity for matches that generate an increased demand. Segregation within the main stand is possible but is far from ideal and further reduces our capacity.

“To respond to this, we are currently evaluating a plan to re-open the North Terrace. This necessitates considerable works to the concrete terraced standing areas, roofing and general access.

“Our plan is to have these works complete in good time for the start of the 2014/15 season. Re-opening the North Terrace should provide us with a stadium capacity easily in excess of 2,000 and will allow us much needed flexibility alongside improved segregation.”

Thereafter, more structural changes are planned: "Our Phase Two plans include the development of a facility at the east end of the ground. This development would include new facilities for spectators, as well as much-needed flexible areas for hospitality and commercial activity.

“Our plans for this are in the early stages and we will provide further updates as we go along.”