Hillwood Boys’ Club founded in 1966 is one of Glasgow’s longest and well-established grassroots football clubs. The club have had many notable achievements in their history having won 8 Scottish Cup titles and having been Runners- up on four separate occasions. Over the years, Hillwood have developed a strong reputation for producing players who have gone on to play at senior level and they can list the likes of Alex McLeish, Kenny Burns, Bobby Hutchinson, Ross Cormack, Peter Mac Donald and Owen Coyle as former players. In 1999, club officials identified that in order for Hillwood B.C. to continue to grow and evolve a new centralised playing and training facility required to be developed. In 2001, a site within the area of Priesthill was identified and early discussions took place on the possibility of securing a lease over the land from Glasgow City Council. For the next twelve years, Hillwood B.C. continued their journey to develop their own home facilities with fundraising beginning in earnest at the start of 2013 in conjunction with the Hillwood Social & Recreational Trust, an organisation they had helped to create in order to gather further financial support for a 3G pitch facility for the club and the wider community. Major funding came that year in the shape of £300,000 from the Priesthill Barratt Trust and £129,000 from Glasgow City Council. In 2015, £100,000 support was offered from The Landfill Trust, with the Scottish Football Partnership granting £35,000 worth of modular changing rooms to the club. In 2016, the SFP Trust was so impressed with the club’s ambitions and fundraising progress that it agreed to award a further £20,000 to the project. With the funding profile being complete, WH Malcolm were appointed to construct a full-size 3G pitch in May, 2016. The project was completed in September, 2016 and with the club now having access to two natural grass playing areas, changing facilities and a state-of-the-art 3G pitch, they are a perfect example of an organisation determined to provide a platform for the next generation of young players to continue their footballing journey.
Chairman, Willie Smith (pictured above) said “A lot of hard work has gone into achieving new Hillwood Park and this was only made possible with the support and dedication of club officials and volunteers. We are very grateful to all of the various funding partners, including The Scottish Football Partnership and Trust who have contributed to this fantastic new facility which will benefit not only Hillwood Boys’ Club but also the local community.”
