October Newsletter
Start of the Month
Our Star of the Month is Mark McKenzie. Our Academy Graduate is having a great season and has been on a goal scoring run lately. Mark made his 200th appearance for Ayr United against Morton recently, a fantastic achievement. Congratulations Mark and thank you for being such a great role model for all our players!
20th Anniversary Sunday Brunch
On Sunday 5th October we hosted the launch event of our 20th Anniversary celebration, a Sunday Brunch in the Ally MacLeod Suite.
Our host Rob MacLean guided us through the afternoon and hosted a Q&A session with our panel members. Our panel members included Academy Graduates Mark McKenzie, Finn Ecrepont and David Mitchell as well as former Academy coaches Brian Gilmour and Scott Agnew. All our panel members gave a fantastic insight into their football journeys and their experience with Ayr United Football Academy.
We presented five Ayr United Football Academy legends with Outstanding Service Recognition Awards. John Crawford, Stuart Galloway, Andy McInnes, Raymond Pattison and Shaun Ferrie have been part of the Academy from the very beginning and the work they have done, and continue to do, has helped shape the Academy into what it is today. We are forever grateful for the work they do and we are delighted that we were able to present them with these very well deserved Outstanding Service Recognition Awards!
Head of Academy, David White, gave a fantastic speech about the Academy and the journey it has been on. We had a fantastic buffet brunch before hearing from our speaker, John McKelvie.
We would like to say a massive thank you to everyone who supported our event. The ongoing support of the Academy is greatly appreciated.
- Sunday Brunch
- John Crawford
- Stuart Galloway
- Andy McInnes
- Raymond Pattison
- Shaun Ferrie
Academy players take part in First Team training session
Ayr United Football Academy was proud to see a group of our youth players take part in a training session led by Ayr United First Team Manager Scott Brown and his coaching staff.
The session provided invaluable opportunity for the Academy players to experience the demands and standards of first team football, while gaining insight into the level of performance, professionalism and tactical understanding required at senior level.
This session reflects the club’s ongoing commitment creating a clear and connected player pathway – one that ensures young players can develop within a learning environment that mirrors the expectations of the first team.
Head of Academy, David White, said “It was an excellent experience for our players and a fantastic example of the joined-up approach across the club. The chance to work directly with the First Team staff helps our young players see what is required to take the next step.”
The Academy extends its thanks to the First Team staff for their continued support and to the Academy players for representing the session with outstanding effort and attitude.
Cruyff Court Opening
On Tuesday 7th October, the first in Scotland Cruyff Court was officially opened at Heathfield Primary School. The fully accessible sports and activity court features an all-weather five a side pitch and sunken trampolines, designed to meet the needs of all, including those with mobility issues and additional support needs.
The Ally MacLeod Cruyff Court is a joint partnership between South Ayrshire Council, the Cruyff Foundation and Ayr United Football Academy. The new facility was named in honour of legendary Scottish football player and manager Ally MacLeod. His wife Faye and his daughter Gail were in attendance at the opening alongside representatives from the Council, the Cruyff Foundation and ourselves. Primary 7 pupils from Heathfield Primary School were also in attendance and presented an original poem that they had written to celebrate the new Cruyff Court.
Our Chairman, Allan Gunning, has played a key role in securing the fully accessible facility. Rachel Scott, our ASN Coordinator, spoke about the new Cruyff Court and said “Being able to see the young people with a place they can play and feel safe while playing sports is great to see especially when they have a huge smile on their face. It makes it all worthwhile.”
Our ASN sessions run from 4pm – 6pm at Heathfield Primary School on a Tuesday. Our ASN sessions are designed for young people or adults who care for or have a disability, additional support needs, long term health conditions or behavioural issues. Anyone can attend who have barriers to or find it difficult to access mainstream football.
Thank you to Peter Harrison Foundation for being the funder of our ASN provision at Heathfield Primary School. Thank you as well to Scottish Gas for their funding which helps to support the sessions.
If you would like any more information about our ASN sessions or have any questions, you can contact Rachel Scott, our ASN Coordinator, at rachel.scott@aufa.org.uk
Thank you to the Ayrshire Post for the photos from the Cruyff Court opening
- Cruyff Court Opening
- Cruyff Court Opening
- ASN Session
- ASN Session
- ASN Session
- ASN Session
Extra Time Trip to Hampden
On Monday 13th October some of our Extra Time participants visited Hampden Park during the October school holiday.
We travelled to Hampden Park on a Dodds bus before having our lunch at the National Stadium. We then got a tour of the stadium and the museum. Thank you to Iain at the Scottish FA and all the staff at the Hampden museum for the tour. We all had an amazing time!
October Camps
We had a spooktacular time at our October Camps. We ran two camps during the October holidays, our Extra Time Camp and our Football Camp.
Our Extra Time Camp ran over the October holidays with 54 young people attending. We had lots of activities on offer including football, multi-sports, arts and crafts and party games. All our children were provided with breakfast, lunch and snacks thanks to Karens Kitchen.
Our Football Camp saw over 60 participants attend our October Camp in what was our final camp of a very successful and fun year of camps. We can’t wait to do it all over again in the new year. See you in 2026!
Thanks to funding we received from Barclays we were able to provide 15 free spaces for girls to attend our October Camp. We always welcome girls to all of our community sessions and camps and are really grateful for this funding providing us with this opportunity.
