Caledonia Gladiators got off to 'perfect' start at new £20m East Kilbride arena

Caledonia Gladiators coach Gareth Murray says his side got off to the perfect start with an opening win over Surrey Scorchers at their new £20m Playsport arena in East Kilbride last Thursday.

And the former Scotland hero says the challenge is to maintain that standard, and keep sell-out crowds flocking to their new purpose-built arena.

Gladiators kicked off life in South Lanarkshire with a 86-79 British Basketball League win over Scorchers, and host Plymouth City Patriots tonight (Thursday) with a 7.45pm tip-off.

They then travel to Sheffield Sharks on Sunday, before embarking on the Europe Cup against CSU Sibiu in Romania.

It’s all looking up for the club, and Murray hopes it continues.

“It was really loud in here, a sell-out crowd, the noise honestly was incredible – it was probably the loudest place we’ve played at, especially in the UK,” he enthused.

“Winning at home in front of the sell-out crowd was an amazing feeling.

“It was an amazing game, it was back and forth, and it was a close game for spectators as well – it wasn’t just a blow-out game.

“There is also relief that we won the first game at the new arena.

“We’re happy to get the win, happy that we’ve won at home in front of the crowd, and now we have to keep bringing that same crowd out every week.

“That’s the plan, that’s the goal, to have sell-outs every week.

“We want people to come and watch the basketball, enjoy the new arena, enjoy the fan-zones, and we want the crowd and the noise to be like that every week.”

Murray says having their own facility makes a huge difference, as the club often had to fight for court time at the Emirates in Glasgow.

Murray said: “It’s like night and day. This morning we had individual shooting and practice with the guys in