Massive boost for Corstorphine Rugby - The Edinburgh Reporter

Corstorphine Cougars rugby club are entitled to be thinking big today after receiving a £250,000 grant from Scottish Rugby towards new facilities at their Union Park ground.

John Peden, club President, said: “This is a real game changer for Corstorphine Cougars giving us facilities to compete with the best clubs in Edinburgh and beyond.”

The new pavilion facilities will include:

Four modernised and enlarged changing rooms each with a separate entrance, changing area, toilets and showers
A new match officials changing room with two changing and showering areas to facilitate male and female referees.
A new strength and conditioning area to help players reach their playing potential and improve the performance of both men’s and women’s teams on the park.
Additional rooms for let to help generate income to cover the additional costs.
More storage areas to help support our increased activities.

Planning started around five years ago and President Peden added: “This is an incredibly exciting development for the community taking what we all accept is a bit of an eyesore and making it into a community hub to be proud of. We want this to be the springboard to a major growth period in our playing numbers at minis, youth and senior level for men and women with facilities that attract more players and helpers to a club on the up. We are looking for all those boys, girls, men and women who want to enjoy and improve their rugby to join us at the start of an exciting future at Cougars.”

The Pavilion dates back to the 1870’s and has been used for rugby and other sports, such as cricket, it is believed to be one of the oldest sporting pavilions still standing. Work is hoped to start almost immediately as the club looks to strip back the derelict flat. The main build work will then take place in the summer of 2024 with a very aggressive timeline to complete as much as possible for the start of season 2024/25.

Steve Wright, Commercial Director & Project Lead, added: “It’s been a long held ambition of the club to do more with the facilities and securing this funding has been critical to the project. We are very grateful to the SRU, sportScotland and other benefactors for their generous contributions which will secure the future of rugby in Corstorphine for generations to come.”

More than £80,000 has been raised already in donations from members, but more is needed if we are to complete the project as quickly as we hope. If you want to do your little bit to leave a rugby legacy in the community, then please reach out to Stevie Wright (Stevewright1968@aol.com) who can help outline the donation options in more detail.

Scottish Rugby said in a statement on their website: “The Major Capital Investment award is part of the ‘Growth & Participation Fund’ and was established from the £5 million Scottish Government funding during the Covid-19 pandemic. This funding strand is designed to support clubs with developments to their physical infrastructure including the purchase, upgrade or construction of their clubhouse facility.

“Improvements will be integrated with the existing facilities on-site … which will be of particular benefit to the club’s women’s section, whose First XV team plays in the Premiership league, the top flight of the domestic game.

Corstorphine men currently sit mid-table in East Region Division Two.