IF Edinburgh City Youth FC chairman, Jim Brown, and myself thought our meeting with the grandly titled Executive Member for Tourism, Sport and Recreation, Donald Anderson, would achieve anything to improve the facilities for ALL youth football clubs in Edinburgh, we were proved totally and utterly wrong, writes IAN MACKAY. The only admission we heard from cllr Anderson was that he acknowledged there was a 'problem' with the facilities on offer to young footballers in the Festival Capital of the World. The rest of the discussion between the councillor and paid council official, David Wardrop, was at times like listening to a party political broadcast of the councillor's achievements in what appeared to be a totally unfair bias for creating community projects in his patch in south Edinburgh. The council official even produced plans for the proposed three new changingroom buildings they (the council) are going to erect in public parks of their choosing. Top of the list . . . wait for it . . . is Fernieside Park in south Edinburgh . A sum of around £300k is going to be spent on this park which has only one football pitch. The other two venues are Bingham and East Pilton - both these parks have shocking changingrooms, but only one pitch each! There was no mention of Double Hedges getting urgent attention once that issue was raised and quickly glossed over by cllr Anderson. He appeared not to have any great concern about the atrocious conditions that currently exist in the filthy, unhygienic and unhealthy rat-infested buildings kids are forced to use at this educational facility. The executive member who is in charge of providing facilities and ensuring fairness to all young people in the city of Edinburgh also said he had 'no problem' with football when this question was put to him. Really! The chairman of Edinburgh City Youth FC and I questioned him further on this point, in particular to the development of Meggetland, where Boroughmuir Rugby Club have fared very well indeed out of the sale of public land to housing developers. The councillor said we should take 'a tour' of Meggetland to see for the 'magnificent development' for ourselves. We were at the City Chambers to discuss the ghastly state of public facilities for ALL youth football clubs in this city. We were there to hear what is going to be done to improve the facilities at places such as Warriston Playing Fields, Wardie, the Gyle, Davidson's Mains, Craigmillar, Sighthill, Saughton, Currie, Balerno, Corstorphine, Inverleith, Colinton, etc, etc, not to discuss his chosen subjects. We were treated to a party political broadcast with councillor Donald Anderson in a starring role. £4m has been set aside according to this politician who hopes to become an MSP for Edinburgh South in the next elections to improve facilities in public parks. But, apparently, not in west Edinburgh, Leith, Pilrig, Balerno, Carrick Knowe, Kingsknowe, Davidson's Mains or other places in the same social bracket. "We have been concentrating on building new schools," he went on, before going back to what appeared to be his favourite subject. "So much has been done to improve community facilities in Gracemount, too!" He then went on to list some of the new facilities built in this part of south Edinburgh. Some of the biggest youth football clubs in Scotland currently operate in basic facilities in Edinburgh and their importance to the social lives of thousands of young people is immeasurable. But the lack of concern shown to these clubs and other communities in this city - other than the 'chosen' groups by this administration is reprehensible! Rugby clubs are allowed to build licensed premises on educational land in this city. Next door to the appalling facilities for football in Double Hedges Park is one such building, for Liberton Rugby Club. Why do they get preferential treatment while school kids from James Gillespies and Armadale Academy were forced to leave their belongings in the squalid changingrooms in this education department owned sports ground. Forrester Rugby Club have a similar type licensed building in the grounds of the doomed playing fields at Forrester High School. Duddingston Playing Fields house licensed premises for Portobello Rugby Club. Holy Cross have their buildings in Arboretum. Some years ago, it was suggested this particual club would be moving in to Warriston Playing Fields. It was also suggested at that time, the massive old chestnut tree, an iconic symbol at this venue would be chopped down to allow a new (licensed) building for the rugby club to be built. I told the official involved in this venture, that if he tried to have the tree chopped down, I would organise a protest to save it. That plan to move the rugby club in to Warriston was, thankfully, dropped. Since then, however, the state of the changingrooms at this venue have seen the old wooden buildings become virtual slums. The old, abandoned tennis courts are an eyesore. The toilet facilities for hundreds of children and their parents at this ground, consist of one ancient pan of doubtful vintage. But when the condition of Warriston was raised, that, too, was quickly glossed over in favour of another pronouncement on the achievements of what has been achieved in south Edinburgh. So, being part of the real world, Jim Brown and mself both agreed we had achieved nothing at all on behalf of grass-roots football clubs in Edinburgh when we found ourselves, thankfully, back out on the High Street. The chairman of Edinburgh City Youth FC, a club with a huge membership of aspiring young footballers operates from the disgusting Sighthil Park, told the executive member for sport, etc: "Our club is in danger of fragmenting as some of our teams refuse to play at Sighthill and they are moving elsewhere. Instead of Sighthill being seen as the 'home' of Edinburgh City, we are in danger of losing that due to the condition of the pitches and changingrooms." "We are going to spend £60m from the sale of Meadowbank to build a rugby and athletics stadium and sports complex at Sighthill", replied the councillor. Mr Brown;s comments to cllr Anderson that "club volunteers have to scour the pitches at Sighthill to clear up dog's dirt, broken glass, cans, and all the other mess" did not appear to create any great response from the councillor and his bored looking official at the meeting. "When the new facilities are ready, they will be run by Edinburgh Leisure," we were informed. The chances of Edinburgh City getting their own buildings and facilities, are, apparently, close to nil. And if any kids cannot afford to pay the inflated prices charged by Edinburgh Leisure, such as £19 @ hour for the use of the new synthetic football pitch at Firrhill High School, the too bad! 'If you cannot pay, you cannot play' appears to be the chatchphrase in this cash-driven administation. To sum up our totally useless meeting in the City Chambers, I have to give my honest appraisal and say we were treated like naive fools. As a final insult to both of us, cllr Anderson said: "Now you can read something positive," as he handed Jim Brown and myself copies of another of these revolting publications that this administration produces at public expense, no doubt, extolling what they have 'achieved' in Edinburgh. A well-known phrase kept coming in to my head as I made my way home, wearily, to the forgotten land of Corstorphine: "You can fool some of the people most of the time, and most of the people some of the time, but you cannot fool all of the people all of the time!" In my case, cllr Anderson, you have not and you do not fool me - at any time! The Protest that I have initiated to highlight the shocking facilities on offer to kids at public-owned sprorts and recreation grounds in Edinburgh is continuing to attract real fair-minded people from all parts of the social spectrum in Edinburgh and I have already stepped up my part in this. I have alreay emailed every MSP with copies of the letters of support I have received so far and I will keep bombarding them and MPs, MEPs and councillors in this city with emails as other letters arrive on my computer. I ask for the help of all of those with similar views to my own to contact me on mackayian@blueyonder.co.uk or getintothem@hotmail.co.uk as soon as possible. Our kids and our communities, all of them not just south Edinburgh, need our help to ensure fairness for all. I plead with all fair-minded adults and young people, to support The Protest. The final irony in all this is the fact that, although I am not a political person at all, I have voted Labour throughout my life. I genuinely believe in fair shares for all, regardless of background, colour or creed. I have also been a trades-union official in both the Scotsman and also in the Evening News when I had the privilege in working for both newspapers. In my current role covering all minor-grade football, if I am not fair, I am very promptly told about it. This past week, I left a kids name out of a team in a game I reported on. Once I had been told about it, I apologised to the family concerned and sent them a photoshow of action pictures set to music from the game in question as part of my apology. Neither I, nor Jim Brown, heard anything like an apology from cllr Donald Anderson or the official in attendance at the meeting about the current state of football facilities for community-based clubs in those areas of Edinbrugh he does not, apparently, have any great interest in. In respect of enforcing them to answer for what I perceive as 'criminal neglect in the care and maintenance of public owned sports and recreation grounds in Edinburgh', I have been informed that I have no chance of seeing any polician or official having to appear in court of law to answer these charges. So I will now contact the office of Audit Scotland and see if I have a case to pursue against Edinburgh City Council in this direction. Someone, I feel, must take the blame for what has and still is happening to destroy the aspirations of young footballers in the Capital. All I can do in the twilight of my life is to ask for the support of all the people I know and meet on a regular basis - in the real world of the squalid, unhygienic and uncivilised conditions I encounter in public parks other than in south Edinburgh! And my advice to all those massive youth football clubs with aspirations of helping to resore the image of Scotland as a football nation and, in the process, help, guide and encourage young people to get actively involved in sport, not just football, is to up sticks and move, lock, stock and barrel, to south Edinburgh. I would also like to leave everyone with another of the quite incredible statements from cllr Anderson: "The streets of Edinburgh are the safest in any city in Britain to walk about in!" I, for one, was glad to get out of the City Chambers and get back in to the real world and go on read in the Evening News of the crisis meeting held in an area of west Edinburgh to address the social problems of thuggery in that part of the city.

*As part of The Protest, I ask everyone not to support Glasgow's bid to host the Commonwealth Games in 2014! Instead force politicians to invest the huge sums of public money in modern, hygienic, safe, clean and civilised  facilies for ALL kids involved with community-based sports clubs in Edinburgh and throughout all other areas in Scotland.