Threave Rovers chairman says West of Scotland League move was "now or never"

Threave Rovers chairman Davie McVitie says it was “now or never” when it came to moving to the West of Scotland League.

The Castle Douglas outfit quit the South of Scotland League at the end of last season.

And on Saturday their application to join the West of Scotland League was approved. They’ll be starting in the fourth division when the campaign kicks off.

McVitie said: “When I took over as chairman nine or 10 years ago we made a plan. One thing was to sort Birkland Road for the youths, another one was the social club and doing up the dressing rooms.

“In the last couple of years we’ve talked about moving to the West but we just weren’t ready. We decided it was now or never – that’s no disrespect to the South, we wish them all the best.

“We’re financially a bit better off now through all the work of the committee, it’s all voluntary and a lot of credit goes to them for getting us in this position.

“When I brought it up a couple of years ago the committee wasn’t for it, which was fine, but I feel Threave needed to move.

“We’ve got some of the best facilities around and we’ve got to move with the times. The committee deserves a lot of credit for what they’ve done and achieved since I became chairman as the facilities are second to none.

“It’s not just a spur of the moment thing because we didn’t win the league. It’s been on the cards for two or three years.”

Threave are the only Dumfries and Galloway team in the West with their opponents in the fourth division mainly Glasgow based – Campbeltown Pupils being a notable exception.

McVitie said: “Campbeltown might be an overnight stay but the rest are only an hour and a half or two hours up the road.

“At the meeting on Saturday a lot of teams thought we were further afield