Football pitch fence plan declared ‘unlawful’

Cathkin Park is well known for its footballing history. It contains the site of the second Hampden Park, previously home to the football clubs Queen’s Park and Third Lanark.

The old football stands are still visible around the current football pitch.

In May 2023, the Jimmy Johnstone Academy applied to the council for planning permission to build a new boundary fence at the park to prevent “unauthorised use and non-permitted activities” and to stop “unnecessary footfall on the grass”.

The charity, set up following the former Celtic legend’s death, uses Cathkin Park to teach children how to play football.

It has two youth teams and hosts about 7,500 young footballers each year.

Access to the existing pitch would be controlled by a lockable gate which would be controlled by the trust.

This prompted Mr Brown to raise a judicial review against the trust and he launched a crowdfunder to raise money for the action against the council.

On his crowdfunding website, Mr Brown wrote: “I firmly believe that football should be for everyone, but this is the last grass pitch on public land in the south-east of Glasgow free for anyone to use.”

A petition was set up in March calling for the council to revoke the planning permission and received over 2,000 signatures.

Locals rallied to the cause, holding fundraising events and protests to draw attention to the park – some held an “emergency picnic” and family fun day to protest against the fence.

Mount Florida Community Council backed efforts to get planning permission revoked.