The youth set-up, from Pollok in Glasgow, boasts a reputation for developing young talent, with big names like Nottingham Forrest’s European Cup winner Kenny Burns, Alex McLeish the former Scotland captain and manager, and Wigan boss Owen Coyle all passing through the ranks.
Current players including Leeds United and Scotland winger Ross McCormack, Raith Rovers’ goalkeeper David McGurn and Motherwell’s No.1 Lee Hollis, have also donned the white shirts of Hillwood. Michael McCloy works at Plumb Center’s Paisley branch as a sales advisor, and volunteers as a coach for the Under-16s team.
“The club helps train kids from Under-4s all the way up to Under-16s,” Michael explained. “We know the importance of sport for young children and want to help them learn and develop, not just as footballers but as people.
“We’ve recently taken out a 25-year lease on a plot of land which, with the support of the Football Partnership, we’re ambitiously turning into a new grass pitch, 4g pitch and a community centre.
“The prices for renting out pitches in the Glasgow area are really expensive, so we want to give the kids somewhere to play football that won’t break the bank.
“That’s where the money from Plumb Center comes in. I wanted it to benefit the whole club, so we’re going to buy 7-a-side goals for all the teams to use.”
Keith Jones, senior director for Plumb and Parts Center, was involved with the donation.
“We’re delighted to help Hillwood Boys Club with their development, it’s a great cause,” he said.
“We encourage our branch staff to ask for charitable donations because they have links to their local community, and we want to support them.
“Hopefully at the 2018 World Cup in Russia we’ll see a few Hillwood graduates playing for Scotland.”