'Very sad' - Poloc CC lose Shawholm ground lease after 143 years

Jock Maxwell Macdonald hopes Poloc can continue to play at Shawholm

The great-grandson of Poloc Cricket Club's original benefactor has expressed his dismay that the club are being evicted from the ground where they have played for 143 years.

Poloc's lease for Shawholm in Glasgow has been terminated by landlord Pollok and Corrour Ltd.

The club was founded by Sir John Stirling-Maxwell.

"It's very sad and disappointing, quite frankly," said great-grandson Jock Maxwell Macdonald.

"It shouldn't be that it can just be pushed into the undergrowth and wilted away. It's a cornerstone of the community in and around Pollok."

Pollok and Corrour declined to comment.

Shawholm hosted Scotland's first televised cricket match in 1955, is home to a distinctive six-hole golf course recognised by the R&A and has hosted international cricketers throughout its history.

Club president Kenneth Robertson wrote to members earlier this week "with a heavy heart", calling them to a special meeting, which was due to take place on Monday.

The new tenants are an unknown organisation with plans to develop the site for different sporting purposes and whose identity will be revealed next week.

Senior figures at Queen's Park Football Club have strongly denied rumours linking them to Shawholm.

Jock Maxwell Macdonald is also the nephew of Donald Maxwell Macdonald, who is director of Pollok and Corrour.

Jock added: "It would feel to me that it is a commercial decision. It is a decision about improving the rent for the landlord. Now of course Pollock and Corrour are entitled to that.

"That is the way the world works but you have to layer on that this is a cricket ground and a cricket club in a very, very special park. I really genuinely don't know another ground of its size within a park within four miles of a city centre.

"To not negotiate and not see if there's another way of doing things is disappointing, frankly. I was quite shocked."

'Precious to our game'

Cricket Scotland has also stated its concern and will support Poloc in order to protect the long-term future of the club, which was founded in 1878 and moved to Shawholm two years later.

"Facilities such as Shawholm are unique and precious to our game, both as places of development for young players and as hubs of the local community", a statement read. "They should never be taken for granted or discarded in this way; instead, they should be cherished and nurtured to ensure a minority sport such as cricket can survive and thrive.

"We would urge all parties involved to come together as soon as possible to enable an agreement to be reached that would allow Shawholm to be retained as a cricket ground, and ensure Poloc CC survives long into the future."

Jock Maxwell Macdonald hopes the new tenant will be willing to preserve cricket's place at Shawholm.

"Countless amounts of youngsters have all come through a community-based cricket club in the middle of Glasgow," he said. "That's very special and shouldn't be pushed away that easily.

"It hasn't changed as a club. If you look at the honours board, it's won things ever since ever. It's got players playing for Scotland ever since ever. It's very much part of the fabric of Glasgow leagues and cricket in Scotland.

"I would hope that the incomer, whoever that may be, will understand the heritage of Pollok Park or Poloc Cricket Club, of its existence to the community and I hope that that lessor will look at it and think, 'well, we need to have cricket as part of the package'."