21 Porty Fives

In the past few days, a campaign has been launched to save the 5-a-side football pitches in Portobello. The news they are under threat came as something of a shock both to users and to the local community. They’re angry that the eight-pitch site, run by Powerleague, had been put up for sale. 

Powerleague 5-a-side

 In fact, the threat is wider than just the football pitches. Down by the Prom, there is ‘Tumbles’, a national centre for gymnastics – just next door. We understand that all of this may be under threat as the City of Edinburgh Council has announced plans to sell off the ground to raise money for the new, updated Meadowbank Stadium.

Tumbles - a National Facility

What has angered five-a-side football fans in particular is the fact that they only heard about a threat to the eight-pitch facility when the for-sale notices appeared. They say there was no local consultation over the decision and are demanding that the process should stop until all options have been exhausted. The public outcry led to the Save the Fives campaign and a successful petition.

Porty Fives 

At present, the council hasn’t made any comment about the sale although its own development plan for Portobello says that “no loss of the football pitches will be acceptable unless a new facility of at least equal standard is provided elsewhere in the near vicinity”.

The Area under Threat

There has however been a letter from the current operators, PowerLeague, in which they explained: “For us it is an ageing facility which is approaching the end of its natural life and therefore it makes sense for us to look for a new location. Our search is focussed on the Eastern side of the city and we are investigating a number of potential opportunities.”