Earlier this month, after years of fighting for survival, Peebles Rovers were wound up as a senior club. For a club that has carried the name of Peebles since the 1890s, the only team from the Scottish Borders ever to play in the Scottish Football League, that is a desperately sad way for the story to end.
We don't think it should end there.
With the agreement of those who ran Rovers, Peebles FC will play under the name Peebles Rovers FC. Our teams, our coaches, our volunteers and our commitment to youth football in Peebles all stay exactly as they are. What changes is the name on the badge, and what it carries with it: more than 130 years of history, and a name that means something to generations of people in this town.
This is about more than sentiment. Our ambition is a genuine pathway in Peebles, from a child's first training session through to senior football, and that means working towards putting an adult team back on the park under the Rovers name. We won't put a date on that. It will take facilities, funding and people, and we'd rather do it properly than quickly. But it's the direction we're heading.
To everyone who kept Rovers going through the hardest years, thank you. The name is in good hands.