Northfield is still home of bowling

Dec 19 2007 Ayrshire Post

AYR will remain the home of Scottish bowls.

That’s the promise from sports chiefs who insist Northfield won’t be kicked to the gutter in years to come.

A new facility at Kelvingrove in Glasgow will be used for the 2014 Commonwealth Games — despite Northfield being the Scottish centre of excellence.

But Ayr, Carrick and Cumnock MP Sandra Osborne has been assured of Northfield’s place in the future of the national game.

She revealed: “It is disappointing that Northfield will not be the venue for the bowling competitions at the Games but I was also concerned that the future of Northfield as the national bowling stadium would be jeopardised and possibly overtaken by a new facility at Kelvingrove.

“However, the Glasgow facility is an upgrade to the existing complex and is not a new facility.

“I have been informed that neither this upgrade nor the fact that Glasgow will host the Commonwealth bowling competitions will change the status of the Northfield facility.

“It will remain as the national bowling facility in the long term. I am still hoping there could be some involvement in the Games, possibly as a practice venue.

“I am pleased that the leader of Glasgow City Council has also recognised that the whole of Scotland should reap the benefits of the Commonwealth Games and not just the Glasgow area.”