Duns F.C. has been given an Award from The Scottish Football Partnership (SFP) to assist with the creation of a new football stadium within the grounds of the Old Berwickshire High School. The Dingers Chairman Colin Pike said;”the evolution of our new ground started three years ago and in hard practical terms twelve months ago when we had our pitch re-laid complete with a full drainage system and the infrastructure put in place for the future installation of a floodlighting system. The next piece of the jigsaw was to erect a perimeter fence and following an approach to the SFP they were able to provide the funds required to bridge our funding gap. What you now see at New Hawthorn Park is the start of the dream of the reborn Duns Football Club, although we aspire to so much more. As a club we are hugely positive about youth football and working with those who have a disability. On the youth side we currently run various age groups from the age of eight years old. Numerous members of these teams have also played their part in assisting our new ground to take shape. We have a dedicated area in the stadium for wheel chair users and have taken into consideration the size and surface type required to allow those less able to utilise all spectator parts of the ground. On a historical point we chose to retain the name of the clubs original ground and will be flying the original club flag which flew over the old ground when the last game was played there. Our next project is to erect a covered enclosure for which we have the base laid already, complete with drainage and electricity supply. This will then put us on the cusp of applying for full Scottish FA membership, entry back into the Scottish Cup where we always feel we should be give our long history of participation in that distinguished competition. An application, if still available, will be forthcoming to the Lowland League in what we see is our natural path of progression and improvement. Finally, in this chapter at least, we shall be officially opening our new ground with a game against a Manchester City Academy side , who, on hearing of the clubs work with youth footballers agreed to send a side North of the Border. This is the end of the first chapter but only the beginning of the story of Duns Football Club at New Hawthorn Park”.
“The support and encouragement received from The Scottish Football Partnership was crucial in the early stages of our ground development”
Colin Pike
Chairman
Duns F.C.
