Favourite quirks of Scottish stadiums.

[Flybhoy]

Annfield Park, Stirling. 

Hard to believe it has been gone 30 years now, a place I watched a lot of football as a kid and for a ground at that level of Scottish football it was definitely one of the best even if I am biased being a Stirling lad. Only drawback was it's last five years the horrendous early version of a synthetic surface, played on it regularly and it had a bounce like a basketball court and the slightest overhit pass would go skidding by you or out of play, for those too young to recall look on YouTube for games involving Luton Town or QPR in the same era who had virtually identical surfaces. 

As a ground though I loved it and get very nostalgic for the place when I see images of it on social media or get called out to do any work at the houses and flats that sit there now. 

Edited March 28, 2022 by Flybhoy

[Aylo vanal]

On 11/11/2021 at 09:57, Steve Finan said:

It is, indeed, the steeplechase water jump. 
It is in a chapter titled: Things You Don't See Any More, which includes Invacars, massed pipes and drums . . . and Firhill's pitch-side vegetable patch.

Think they've gone retro this season! 

[tamthebam]

On 28/03/2022 at 22:54, Flybhoy said:

Annfield Park, Stirling. 

Hard to believe it has been gone 30 years now, a place I watched a lot of football as a kid and for a ground at that level of Scottish football it was definitely one of the best even if I am biased being a Stirling lad. Only drawback was it's last five years the horrendous early version of a synthetic surface, played on it regularly and it had a bounce like a basketball court and the slightest overhit pass would go skidding by you or out of play, for those too young to recall look on YouTube for games involving Luton Town or QPR in the same era who had virtually identical surfaces. 

As a ground though I loved it and get very nostalgic for the place when I see images of it on social media or get called out to do any work at the houses and flats that sit there now. 

The first away game I went to was Stirling v Meadowbank in May 1987. Meadowbank lost 3-1 but got promoted thanks to results going our way elsewhere. In the first half we stood on the open terrace and it started snowing. In the sunny second half we swapped ends to the covered terrace....

What the photos don't show is the 6 foot nettles growing out of the urinals you found at Annfield. As Meadowbank fanzine AWOL commented "Watch yer wanger.."

[GNU_Linux]

The Rockworks current home of North Caledonian League Orkney FC. Orkney previously played at the decidedly more functional Pickaquoy Centre in Kirkwall before moving a few miles up the road to Holm this year.

Edited November 24, 2022 by GNU_Linux

[approximately dave]

On 28/03/2022 at 23:54, Flybhoy said:

Annfield Park, Stirling. 

Hard to believe it has been gone 30 years now, a place I watched a lot of football as a kid and for a ground at that level of Scottish football it was definitely one of the best even if I am biased being a Stirling lad. Only drawback was it's last five years the horrendous early version of a synthetic surface, played on it regularly and it had a bounce like a basketball court and the slightest overhit pass would go skidding by you or out of play, for those too young to recall look on YouTube for games involving Luton Town or QPR in the same era who had virtually identical surfaces. 

As a ground though I loved it and get very nostalgic for the place when I see images of it on social media or get called out to do any work at the houses and flats that sit there now. 

 

^^^ Carpet burn thread for this pish.

 

[Flybhoy]

49 minutes ago, approximately dave said:

^^^ Carpet burn thread for this pish.

 

Oh I had a few dull ones from that surface I can assure you. 

When the old reserve leagues were on the go in the late 80's and early 90's me and a few pals would often attend matches which were nearly always a Monday night and would go on for a half hour kick about at full time before Shug the grounds man would turn the floodlights off, many a sair yin was attained resulting in a painful bus journey into school on the Tuesday morning. 

[tamthebam]

40 minutes ago, Flybhoy said:

Oh I had a few dull ones from that surface I can assure you. 

When the old reserve leagues were on the go in the late 80's and early 90's me and a few pals would often attend matches which were nearly always a Monday night and would go on for a half hour kick about at full time before Shug the grounds man would turn the floodlights off, many a sair yin was attained resulting in a painful bus journey into school on the Tuesday morning. 

Meadowbank Thistle's first ever reserve game was played at Annfield.

Albion did a programme for it too!

Stirling Albion: Robertson, McMeel, McCluskey, Conway, Taylor, Haggart, Hannigan, Mitchell, Reid, Robertson, Nugent. Subs: Colquhoun, McKenzie

Meadowbank: Ellison, Hendrix, Young, Bullen*, Graham, Ewing, Park, Duthie, Whitehead, Banks, Hutchison. Subs: Cormack, Armstrong

*Current Ayr manager 

[The Mantis]

19 minutes ago, tamthebam said:

Meadowbank: Ellison, Hendrix, Young, Bullen*, Graham, Ewing, Park, Duthie, Whitehead, Banks, Hutchison. Subs: Cormack, Armstrong

*Current Ayr manager 

Aye  the Meadowbank no 2 used to liven up staff meetings with his guitar solos…

Edited November 24, 2022 by The Mantis

[ropy]

1 hour ago, Flybhoy said:

Oh I had a few dull ones from that surface I can assure you. 

When the old reserve leagues were on the go in the late 80's and early 90's me and a few pals would often attend matches which were nearly always a Monday night and would go on for a half hour kick about at full time before Shug the grounds man would turn the floodlights off, many a sair yin was attained resulting in a painful bus journey into school on the Tuesday morning. 

You could tap the ball up the wing and the wind would blow it the full length of the pitch, only then did I understand what my physics teacher meant by a frictionless plane.

[Flybhoy]

21 hours ago, tamthebam said:

Meadowbank Thistle's first ever reserve game was played at Annfield.

Albion did a programme for it too!

Stirling Albion: Robertson, McMeel, McCluskey, Conway, Taylor, Haggart, Hannigan, Mitchell, Reid, Robertson, Nugent. Subs: Colquhoun, McKenzie

Meadowbank: Ellison, Hendrix, Young, Bullen*, Graham, Ewing, Park, Duthie, Whitehead, Banks, Hutchison. Subs: Cormack, Armstrong

*Current Ayr manager 

Every chance I was at that. 

Terry McMeel the right back was a couple of years above me at school and stayed across the street from me, sadly passed away from cancer a few years ago. 

The reserve match programmes were essentially a photocopy of the cover of the previous first team home match with the fixture details amended and the team line ups on the inside. 

Number 6 for the Albion is Larry Haggart, played for a decade or so at Alloa and had a brief spell at Stirling Albion before retiring, sadly he is probably best known now as the father of Laurence Haggart, a promising kid on the books of Celtic who was murdered in his home in Larbert by a local physcopath sex offender in an investigation handled horrifically by Central Scotland police who, at one point tried to blame it on the poor lads brother, this happened around the same time as the Dunblane massacre I seem to recall. 

[approximately dave]

Inspired by the direction of the Ghostown thread in the GN section since much of a city or town social gatherings decades ago revolved around pubs, cafes, churches and working mans clubs many of those would be found in or close by town or city centers same for football grounds. Many of these grounds are among the oldest.

Since it could be called a quirk now who has the closest football ground to a town or city center in the SPFL. Definition of closest is a ten minute walk as maximum and its walk not by car or by rail?

Ross County spring to mind right away, Motherwell,?

Livingston though having a town center might be a matter of opinion?

 

[Richey Edwards]

Neil McCann permanently talks as if he's flying a helicopter.

[Salvo Montalbano]

3 hours ago, approximately dave said:

Inspired by the direction of the Ghostown thread in the GN section since much of a city or town social gatherings decades ago revolved around pubs, cafes, churches and working mans clubs many of those would be found in or close by town or city centers same for football grounds. Many of these grounds are among the oldest.

Since it could be called a quirk now who has the closest football ground to a town or city center in the SPFL. Definition of closest is a ten minute walk as maximum and its walk not by car or by rail?

Ross County spring to mind right away, Motherwell,?

Livingston though having a town center might be a matter of opinion?

 

Livingston is a fair hike from the train stations. Cowdenbeath would have been the obvious answer up til their relegation to the Lowland League. 

[paul wright scores]

On 24/11/2022 at 19:09, GNU_Linux said:

The Rockworks current home of North Caledonian League Orkney FC. Orkney previously played at the decidedly more functional Pickaquoy Centre in Kirkwall before moving a few miles up the road to Holm this year.

I saw that ground when I was in Orkney in the summer

[approximately dave]

22 minutes ago, Salvo Montalbano said:

Livingston is a fair hike from the train stations. Cowdenbeath would have been the obvious answer up til their relegation to the Lowland League. 

I was meaning with Livingston is the football ground next to the town centre which could be argued as the retail park and shopping centre since there is little else there to define the center of the town. From satellite it just looks like one huge campus. A town square or the largest density of shops or maybe a town house or maybe a main road like a High Street would define where a town center is, a place of focus within a community. If so Livingston could be the closest.

[KirkieRR]

Gayfield is the only ground where I've been distracted by a sunset.

[tamthebam]

It depends how quickly you walk..

Stenhousemuir, Alloa, Queens Park, Montrose, Albion Rovers, Airdrie and Arbroath are *fairly* near to stations.

Smaller towns have their team grounds nearer to town centres of course than cities like Edinburgh and Glasgow- Annan and Montrose spring to mind and Bonnyrigg must be one of the closest to a town centre. For a city Pittodrie is in walking distance of Union Street. 

 

[Monkey Tennis]

Palmerston is only ten minutes from the centre of town.

[Ranaldo Bairn]

1 hour ago, paul wright scores said:

I saw that ground when I was in Orkney in the summer

I love how they have spelt "Holm" as opposed to Away on the dugout 

[Salvo Montalbano]

1 hour ago, Monkey Tennis said:

Palmerston is only ten minutes from the centre of town.

A good shout. 

Hibs and Edinburgh are also quite close to the East End of Princes Street and Waverley so I'd say are close enough the centre. Cliftonhill is pretty close to Coatbridge Town centre, some pubs of varying quality and both stations. Bonnyrigg is fairly central to the centre of town as well I think although I've not been myself.