Borders youth football team given boost by former player of theirs and Scottish international Joelle Murray

The Chirnside-born 37-year-old, now a coach for Scottish Women's Premier League side Hibernian, nominated the Borderers for a training kit handout funded by Scottish Power and returned to her old Home Park stomping ground to present it to them.

That gift of a kit package including bibs, cones, water-bottles and footballs sized for under-14s was one of six to mark the start of the energy firm’s second season as Scottish Women’s Football and the SWPL’s main sponsor.

It asked the SWPL’s top six sides to nominate a community club they value for their work in developing girls’ youth football and ex-Scotland defender Murray, capped 48 times between 2007 and 2019, picked Coldstream Juniors because of the helping hand they, along with Chirnside Juniors, gave her at the start of a sporting career that saw her go on to turn out for Hibs 507 times prior to her retiral as a player in May this year, winning two league titles, seven Scottish cups and five league cups.

Explaining her choice, the former club captain said: “Coldstream Juniors are the grass-roots club I started my journey at and it’s important to be able to help give something back to the local club and community.

“Back then, there definitely were financial challenges. Players had to fork out for their own equipment and anything else they needed to perform at their best.

“I’m delighted to be able to pass on this equipment from Scottish Power.”

Murray handed the free kit over to Coldstream Juniors coach Kevin Patterson and he was heartened to hear how much their mutual club still mean to her all these years on.

“Everyone at Coldstream Juniors was absolutely delighted to find out that Joelle had nominated us to receive these kits,” he said.

“The support we get from Scottish Power and local family-run businesses is absolutely crucial to the sustainability a club of our size and really does enable us as coaches to continue to deliver coaching to children on a weekly basis.”

Keith Anderson, the energy firm’s chief executive, added: “We want to energise women’s football for both current and future generations and build a community of players that inspire even more people to play and enjoy the game.

“That means working with our partners at SWF and the SWPL to help clubs and players overcome barriers to their growth and operation.

“By providing training kit and asking those players at the top of the game to nominate a community club to receive it, we’re making sure that everyone can benefit from this partnership, whether at the elite end of the game or those all-essential grass-roots.”

Other Coldstream Juniors success stories include Zach Bruce, now an under-18 midfielder at Hibs after signing up with the Edinburgh outfit last year at the age of 15, and former Falkirk and St Johnstone midfielder Liam Craig, currently coaching, like old pal Murray, at Hibs.