18-07-2025
Scottish Premiership club LOSE SFA funding for new training centre with ambitious plans in turmoil
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DUNDEE'S plans for a state-of-the-art new training centre in the city's Riverside area are in limbo - after they LOST OUT on SFA funding for the project.
We told you how Dundee FC Community Trust (DFCCT) had launched ambitious plans for a complex on the banks of the Tay at Riverside Drive.
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An impression of how the new plans could look
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How the complex could look
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John Nelms announces the plans to build the club's new training facility at Riverside
Credit: Willie Vass
The Dark Blues wanted to build a new hub facility at the Riverside, transforming the current pitches and adding a new artificial surface with a small stadium.
Dundee council approved their proposal last year - with club officials saying at the time that the trust had secured investment through the Scottish FA's Grassroots Pitch and Facilities Fund which would be matched by the Keyes family.
But those plans were put into disarray when they lost a legal battle with protesters.
Pressure group Save Riverside Park challenged the decision in the courts - claiming the development would affect flood defences, and breach environmental rights.
And with the local authority opting not to oppose the action, the Court of Session came down AGAINST Dundee.
That means the Dens Park men will have to decide whether to put forward a new plan for the same site or look elsewhere.
But the really bad news for them is that as it stands they've now LOST the SFA funding for the proposal.
As the award had to be spent over the 2023-24 and 2024-25 financial years and wasn't delivered in this period, the cash was simply withdrawn and reallocated to alternative projects.
And applications for this year's fund have already closed.
A Dundee spokesperson, as quoted in the Courier, said: 'Dundee FC Community Trust and Dundee Football Club are aware of the current situation regarding the application and funding for the football training centre and community hub at the Riverside Pitches.
'Both the trust and the football club are working together to explore the best course of action going forward for the football training centre and community hub which will serve the people of Dundee in many different ways.'
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