Aberlour Villa Football Club kicks off bid to replace 50-year-old pavilion ahead of centenary year
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A SPEYSIDE football club has kicked off a bid to replace its eyesore pavilion.
The committee of Aberlour Villa Football Club, an amateur team competing in the Moray and District Welfare League, has launched a drive to raise £50,000 to replace its rotting changing room block at Villa Park, to the west end of the village by the River Spey.
The volunteers hope to upgrade facilities for the team's players as the club approaches its centenary year.
The club was formed in 1924 by five local loons who met up in the toilets behind Aberlour Parish Church.
Its chairman, Jake Gordon (32), from Elgin, said the 50-year-old wooden pavilion wasn't fit for purpose, despite the club's efforts over the years to keep it wind and watertight.
He said: "The pavilion is really on its last legs.
"It is now at the stage in its life that it needs replaced with a more upgraded option.
"The wood is totally rotten and it's an eyesore for the community at a highly visible point on the main route out of the village.
"On top of that, it's an old shed which is an easy target for thieves and vandals. We need a more secure building.
"We thought that, as there isn't so much football being played just now, it would be a good time to pump all our efforts towards getting the pavilion sorted out."
A GoFundMe appeal has been launched to raise money for materials and to connect to mains electric, as the current building is powered by a generator.
The club owns the park as well as the car parking area above the pitch.
Grants of Dufftown electrician Jake, who has been club chairman for five years, added: "There are 13 of us on the committee, mostly young lads, many who work in trades, so between us we could muck in to carry out the build. This would obviously be cheaper but would take longer as we all have work and family commitments.
"We are looking at our options just now, getting prices, and also looking at whether there might be funding available.
"The main thing is to get the plan off the ground so that we can hopefully have a new pavilion in place for our 100th year.
"We feel, as a club, that a new pavilion would be a fantastic way to start off our centenary celebrations and would also give the whole Aberlour community a boost."
Former Scotland goalkeeper Nicky Walker is Villa's biggest-name football talent discovery to date. Nicky, who played in the Villa team of the late 1970s, went on to play for Leicester, Rangers, Partick Thistle, Hearts and Aberdeen.
Nicky later briefly returned to play for Aberlour Villa during a break from his then Division 1 club, Ross County, before joining Inverness Caledonian Thistle.
Aberlour Villa FC is sponsored by Grants of Dufftown, Speyside Stoves and KR Joiners.
The GoFundMe appeal, launched on Monday, March 1, raised more than £1000 on day one and currently sits at £1480.
To donate to Aberlour Villa's pavilion fundraiser click here.
