Delighted to announce the official opening of The Place today, Thursday 12th August 2021. Situated in the brand new Raeburn Place Development, operated by the Edinburgh Academical Football Club and overlooking our historic home at Raeburn Place, The Place will primarily serve the community as a café and bar for the majority of the week and act as our Clubhouse on match day weekends.

We are delighted to complete the fit-out of our new Clubhouse and open The Place for normal business in what has been a very challenging year since the Raeburn Place Foundation completed Phase 1 of the development. Club members and the wider Accies community have really pulled together to raise a significant amount to fund the fit-out and ultimately provide a brilliant modern, spacious and welcoming space that the whole community can enjoy.

Mark Galloway, EAFC Chairman.

The opening is the culmination of a significant amount of work which can fairly be stated to have started in 2012 when the seeds of what would eventually become the Raeburn Place Foundation plan to re-develop part of Raeburn Place were planted. The Raeburn Place Foundation completed Phase 1 of the build in early 2020 and since then the Club has been working diligently to ensure The Place could open to serve the community in a safe, welcoming and professional manner.

Much work has been completed over the past year to ensure we reach this point but the most remarkable achievements are the speed with which we reached our fundraising target and the delivery of the fit-out itself. Our fundraising team managed to raise over £500k in less than 5 months and this enabled the fit-out to commence at pace. S1 Developments took over the project management of the Raeburn Place Development for Raeburn Place Foundation prior to the completion of Phase 1 and they also took on the fit-out of the The Place on behalf of the Club. Their expertise and experience has shone throughout the year and is evident in the remarkably high standard with which the fit-out has been completed.

Raeburn Place holds a special place in the hearts of myself, my family and everyone at S1 Developments. We were all excited to accept the challenge of managing the development on behalf of RPF and the fit-out for Accies so Raeburn Place can remain a place to inspire lives through sport. I can’t wait to see Accies turn The Place into a thriving community and family-friendly hub for all and it has been our privilege to play a part in that.

Dan Teague, S1 Developments Director and EAFC Honorary Life Member

With the fit-out completed in March 2021, the Club could focus on ensuring we were ready to open to our members and the general public. We began implementing our business plan by securing top quality suppliers and recruiting experienced professionals to form The Place Management team and run the day-to-day. We were ably supported by a number of consultants who very kindly volunteered their time and expertise.

The main focus of the business plan, and the largest change for the Club, is our move to operating Monday to Friday and predominantly as a café rather than solely a bar or clubhouse. This move is aligned with our Club value to provide an inclusive and welcoming environment for all and we hope it will allow us to build on our connections with the community. The Place is a spacious and easily accessible venue and everyone will be welcome, whether they want to watch rugby or not. To support that message, we have taken the opportunity to create unique social media accounts focused on The Place on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter - we would encourage you to follow these in addition to our existing Club channels.

We are a rugby club first and foremost so it was pleasing to be able to show some of our players, coaches and club volunteers around during this period and also host a number of private practice events to ensure the service we deliver upon opening will be a very high standard from the start.

It has been a challenging time for the Club as we have spent a long period in temporary facilities and even played our final season before the pandemic with no Clubhouse or facilities as Phase 1 of the development neared completion. All members and supporters of the Club deserve huge credit for ensuring we could reach this point and they will have our eternal gratitude.

I am pleased that players, coaches and supporters can now settle into our new home and look ahead to an exciting future at Accies. We are a community-focused Club so it is great that we now have somewhere the whole community can come to meet and I must say a special thank to Mark and the rest of the Board for getting us to this point.

Bob Easson, EAFC Club President

It is great that we can open the doors of our new Clubhouse before our rugby season commences, but even better that it will function as a Cafe and Bar for the whole community. Please come an visit and spread the word!