EDINBURGH CITY are adamant their home ground Meadowbank Stadium is all ready to host Third Division games and are appealing to the current 29 SFL member clubs to admit them when they meet at Hampden Park tomorrow.
City, along with Capital rivals Spartans, East Lothian's Preston Athletic, Annan Athletic and Cove Rangers are seeking election to the Scottish Football League following the resignation of Gretna and are optimistic the SFL member clubs will vote in
their favour.
"It has always been Edinburgh City's aspiration to rejoin the SFL," stressed Grant Coffin, their secretary.
"We made an application in 2002 and when Gretna resigned in the summer we were well prepared to make a bid."
Edinburgh City were formed in 1928 and previously played in the Scottish League from 1931 to 1949 at City Park, which was formerly the home of rivals Spartans.
"When the SFL delegation visited Meadowbank Stadium recently there was nothing that we felt uncomfortable with," continued Coffin.
"Meadowbank is capable of holding big matches and we had over 2000 spectators in a game against Manchester United in 2003.
"The dressing-rooms are spacious and we have floodlighting. The stadium is SFL compliant and we could play a Third Division game there immediately.
"There have been discussions with the City of Edinburgh Council and Edinburgh Leisure regarding the proposed development of the Meadowbank area. Edinburgh City is looking at that possibility as a positive rather than a negative. We are deeply involved with the Council and have security in terms of tenancy.
"We feel that the name Edinburgh City is instantly recognisable with Scotland's capital city and the SFL should be seeking coverage in Edinburgh where we house some of the biggest financial institutions in the world.
"Financially, we run a very tight ship and on the park our current squad, with some additions with SFL experience, would fit comfortably into the Third Division.
"We are ready to hit the ground running, our facilities are completely ready and I would like to think that the SFL chairmen would be pragmatic in their voting rather than voting geographically or politically."
Meadowbank Stadium hosted Scottish League games for 20 years from 1974 to 1994 when Meadowbank Thistle were the tenants before they moved to Livingston.
"Over the past 12 years, Edinburgh City has grown to become one of the largest community-based football organisations in Scotland," said club chairman, Andy McDonald.
"We field 30 teams each week ranging from under-8 to our Senior team in the East of Scotland League. There are over 450 players and 120 adult committee members.
"We have reaffirmed every year that we want to be in the SFL and have been working on our plans on an annual basis. When Gretna resigned we were ready to go.
"We are sitting with a facility at Meadowbank Stadium which satisfies the SFL criteria and we could play a Third Division game there tomorrow. The SFL delegation were satisfied with our facilities and they have not asked us any supplementary questions.
"Edinburgh City sees a major benefit to the SFL in having a club from the Capital in the SFL. We are a well-run club which brings youngsters through from an early age and the next obvious step is being admitted to the SFL.
"The catchment area for Edinburgh City is the whole of Edinburgh, not just a specific area, as we have teams who play all over the Capital. Our influence on football permeates the whole of Edinburgh.
"We believe that we have a strong case for SFL membership and we will be presenting that case to the 29 member clubs tomorrow. Then we hope that these clubs will vote objectively for the better long-term view of having an Edinburgh City team in the Scottish League."
The five clubs who are seeking membership will present their bids at Hampden Park tomorrow morning and this will be followed by a vote by the 29 SFL member clubs.
The first applicant to achieve 15 votes will be admitted. If no club attains 15 votes in the first ballot then the club gaining the least votes will drop out until the figure of 15 is reached.
The full article contains 710 words and appears in Edinburgh Evening News newspaper.
