Our manager is quoted in a report on the STV site complaining at the price difference between the local facility and the Toryglen complex in Glasgow. It seems that our players were at the Ravenscraig complex on Monday but on Tuesday we returned to the cheaper alternative near Hampden.
“[Ravenscraig] is a very good facility but very expensive,” Brown said. “We got quite a shock at the price of it, it’s a lot more expensive than Toryglen. I don’t want to say the exact amount but it’s a significant figure. We don’t get priority at Ravenscraig so we use Toryglen as it’s a lot less expensive. The point I was making is that it’s the same facility but they charge more. We’re right next door to Ravenscraig as well so it’s a bit incongruous.”
It is believed that Motherwell have been in negotiations with North Lanarkshire Leisure for some months in an attempt to secure a long term agreement to make use of the excellent indoor surface. The inability of both sides to come to an understanding on pricing before the onset of the winter weather looks foolish.
It looks even more ridiculous when we note that Hamilton Accies secured access to the new complex in October. Speeking then an Accies spokesman said, “We have an agreement with North Lanarkshire Council and SportScotland, which protects us and them. It's a lease that is renewed every six months and I hope we're there for the duration.”
Things cannot be good if we can’t compete with our wee neighbours!