The deep links between Sir Andy Murray and Dunblane

Although he rarely talks about it, Sir Andy Murray and his brother Jamie were among the pupils at Dunblane Primary School during the massacre in 1996.

They were with their classes and took cover after Thomas Hamilton entered the gym hall and killed 16 children and a teacher before shooting himself.

The tennis star’s family knew Hamilton and Sir Andy had attended a kids’ club that he ran.

The two-time Wimbledon champion has since told how tennis was an “escape” for him after some of his childhood experiences.

During the Amazon Prime documentary Andy Murray: Resurfacing in 2019, Sir Andy he explained the importance of tennis to him to director Olivia Cappuccini.

He told the film-maker: “You asked me a while ago why tennis was important to me. I had the thing that happened at Dunblane, when I was around nine.

“I am sure for all the kids there it would be difficult for different reasons. The fact we knew the guy, we went to his kids’ club, he had been in our car, we had driven and dropped him off at train stations and things.

“Within 12 months of that happening, our parents got divorced. It was a difficult time. To see that and not quite understand what is going on.

“And then six to 12 months after that, my brother also moved away from home. He went away to train to play tennis. We obviously used to do everything together. When he moved away that was also quite hard for me.”

Sir Andy said that around that time and after that, for a year or so, he had “lots of anxiety that came out when I was playing tennis”.

He added: “My feeling towards tennis is that it’s an escape for me in some ways because all of these things are stuff that I have bottled up.”

In the decades since the shooting, the tennis success of Sir Andy and his brother Jamie, a Wimbledon mixed doubles champion, has helped put Dunblane on the map for reasons other than the tragedy.

Sir Andy, who also won two Olympic gold medals in his career, previously spoke about how he was glad to do something positive, telling the BBC in a 2013 interview: “It is just nice that I’ve been able to do something the town is proud of.”

More recently he has become an official patron of a charity set up in the aftermath of the Dunblane massacre.

After receiving donations from across the world following the shooting, the Dunblane Centre was opened in memory of those affected.

It is a community space for all ages where events including sports lessons, crafts, soft play, dancing and social groups take place.

Speaking last year he said: “The Dunblane Centre is a central part of the community here in Dunblane and the work they do is so important for local people.

“I think community centres like this one are becoming more and more essential, particularly for kids who need spaces where they can try new things and meet new people.

“I’m proud to be joining the team and look forward to adding my support in the coming years.”