Caledonia Gladiators target long-term success ahead of new season

Ahead of the new Super League season, Caledonia Gladiators head coach Gareth Murray says they can challenge for all four trophies but are also building towards success over the next few years.

The team begin their campaign at home to Manchester on Friday night and they’re hoping it will be the start of a memorable campaign after showing their strength, and potential, in recent years.

Winning the BBL Trophy in 2023 was a highlight and the side finished third in the league last season. Now, they are targeting silverware and hoping to compete on all fronts.

“Every club will be saying the same thing,” Murray told STV. “We want to be the top team and we want to win all the trophies.

“I think it’s realistic with the squad we have.”

The team moved into the multi-million pound facility at Playsport in East Kilbride last year and Murray believes that the surroundings have them set up for success.

“The work we have here at Playsport obviously makes [achieving our aims] a lot easier,” he said. “We have the ability to practice whenever we want. We’ve got our own weights room and a show court next door.

“The facilities definitely help. The infrastructure we have, with the number of coaches, helps us continue to grow and the players want to work to improve as individuals and as a team.

“I think that’s key.”

Facilities are only part of the picture though, and the head coach has a lot of confidence in the squad that has been assembled for the coming season. The focus and plan is for sustained long-term success and that means building a balance between home-grown talent and know-how that’s brought in from abroad.

Murray said: “We brought back a number of players from last year, which is good, but we’ve also added some guys that are interesting players as well, who have played in Europe already.

“We’ve got some young British players , which is what we’re about. We want a young, British core that we can build around and grow and work towards in the next few years.

“It’s not just about this year and I think that’s important. The message is that we want to continue into next year and the year after and the year after.”

The immediate focus is getting off to a good start on Friday, and Murray says anticipation is building not only for competitive action but for players to hear their support again.

“We’re excited,” he said. “Guys want to play games and we’ve got 11 games coming up in October so we’re excited.

“This is our seventh week in pre-season. We’ve had one qualifier for the basketball Champions League last week.

“They’re excited to play but also to see the fans as well. This has been a great atmosphere in the last year. You get 1600 people in here and it gets loud so they feed off of that.”