AN historic Barrhead football club has launched a new initiative to generate support within the community and beyond as it aims to secure a bright future.

Arthurlie FC was founded in 1874, with generations of Barrhead football fans watching the team in action at Dunterlie Park over the decades.

Now the Friends of Arthurlie scheme has kicked off to generate much-needed funds for the club.

Officials are asking people to donate money towards the club’s running costs and, in return, they will be able to enter monthly draws to win prizes, as well as being mentioned on a new Friends of Arthurlie page online.

Club secretary Jim Hannigan told the Barrhead News. “Donations are voluntary. It could be £10 a month or £5 a month or it could be £1 per week. It can be anything really, just whatever people can afford.

“It would help us get a better quality of player, a better standard at the ground, encourage youth players and pay for strips.”

Club treasurer Ger Lafferty added: “It could help us get up the ladder and allow us to keep young local talent at Arthurlie, instead of them moving to other clubs.

“We now have an under-20s development team attached to our first team and, already this season, we’ve signed two of them on professional contracts.

“There is a lot of young talent in the town and, moving forward, we want to provide a route for them into professional football and build a club that the local community can be proud of.”

Arthurlie are currently flying high in Conference A of the new West of Scotland Football League, having made an impressive start to the 2021/22 campaign.

The competition offers a direct route into the Scottish Professional Football League, where giants such as Celtic and Rangers ply their trade, but it also means Arthurlie are now competing against clubs with bigger budgets.

It is hoped the squad’s current success on the pitch will translate into bigger crowds to watch them play, particularly as Barrhead’s population grows and new people arrive in the town.

“We are now in a league where we can go right up to senior football,” Jim added. “We want people to come along and join the journey we are on.

“You can gradually see the increase, the crowds are starting to come back. If you put a winning team on the park, it certainly makes it easier to attract people along to watch us, especially after the pandemic.

“People are looking for things to do and those who have just moved into Barrhead are looking for things to do and we really want to encourage them to come along and support us on a Saturday.”

Anyone who would like to support the club through the new scheme should email Friends@arthurlie.com.