Forthbank Stadium (Stirling Albion v Clyde)

Today I took the bus from Glasgow to the city of Stirling to pay my first visit to Forthbank Stadium, the ground of Stirling Albion FC. Just like two weeks ago when I went to Fort William I made use of the Sunday Mail offer (return to anywhere in Scotland for a fiver) but the train costs only a fraction more. The bus station is adjacent to the railway station and it takes about 20 minutes to walk to the stadium (using the newly built pedestrian bridge over the railway tracks). Stirling is a great place to visit of course but the weather was horrendous today. Torrential rain made me worried that this game would be postponed again however it turned out it went ahead as planned.

I decided to support Clyde today as a I have a bit of a soft spot for them. Also because they were the underdogs against league leaders Stirling Albion I took a seat in the East Stand. The ground, which opened in 1993, is small but the capacity of 3,800 (2,500 of which are seats) is more than adequate for Stirling. The West Stand is slightly bigger than the East Stand. There are terraces behind both goals as well but it is my understanding that they are seldom in use. Although I would normally prefer a terrace over a stand the fact that these are uncovered means I would not have opted for them anyway.

The game was an entertaining affair. Albion unsurprisingly had the better chances in the first half but were unable to find the net and Clyde were lucky to have not conceded a goal by half-time. It was the Bully Wee however who opened the score when Willie Sawyers found the net in the 57th minute. Stirling frantically looked for the equaliser but it looked like this was not their day, particularly when they had a goal disallowed for offside. However substitute Liam Corr scored the deserved equaliser in the 88th minute.

Approaching Forthbank on a miserable day.


Picture taken before the game outside the ground with the Wallace Monument in the background.

Panorama view taken from the East Stand.


The East Stand.


The South Terrace, which was not in use today.

The West Stand housed the home supporters.

The North Terrace was not open either.

Saturday 24th October
Scottish Football League Second Division
Stirling Albion 1 Clyde 1
Stirling Albion: Corr 88.
Clyde: Sawyers 57.
Att: 764

Broadwood Stadium (Clyde v Man Utd XI)

Today I went to Cumbernauld to see Clyde take on a Manchester United select in a friendly at Broadwood Stadium. After an 11-minute train journey from Glasgow Queen Street I got off at Croy. From there it is a 20-minute walk to Broadwood, a modern ground that was opened in 1995. An interesting bit of trivia is that Broadwood is the highest ground in Scotland (in terms of altitude). The capacity is about 8,000 divided over three stands. There is no stand at the northern end of the ground, and it looks like there will never be one either as a leisure centre has now been built at this end. There does not seem to be a need to expand the ground anyway, only 663 witnessed the Bully Wee losing 3-1 to Peterhead yesterday.

There were a few more in attendance today but still by far no full house. There was a sell-out crowd when Clyde entertained the Red Devils in July 2005. Today however it was not Sir Alex's first team showing up but Ole Gunnar Solksjaer's reserve squad. Nevertheless the Reds proved much too strong for the Scottish part-timers who counted themselves lucky to be only 4-0 down when the referee blew the final whistle.

Approaching Broadwood Stadium.


Queues at the turnstiles.

The South Stand.

The West Stand remained closed today.


The Main Stand.


Rafael da Silva with the 'Advance Construction Scotland Trophy' and he seemed really pleased with it.

Sunday 18th October 2009
Friendly
Clyde 0 Manchester United XI 4
Goals: Stewart (o.g.) 22, Brandy 29, Da Silva 59, Eikrem (pen.) 89.
Att: 2,365

Gayfield Park (Arbroath)

Yesterday I took the train to Arbroath, a journey of one hour and 40 minutes, to pay my first visit to Gayfield Park. Arbroath were playing Clyde in the Scottish Second Division. I had never been to Arbroath before but had already seen on Google Street View that it was a town worth visiting and had been looking forward to it for a couple of weeks. I arrived at Arbroath railway station at around 13:20, which me gave a bit of time, but not too much, to explore the town.


The first thing I noticed were the ruins of Arbroath Abbey so I walked up there to take a few pictures. I did not have time to visit the museum and to get on the actual premises so I just took a few snapshots from outside. There was a nice blue sky and it looked like a nice day for a football game, even though it was a bit windy. I remembered reading on Wikipedia the night before that 'sadly, excessive health and safety concerns in recent years, have meant more frequent cancellations in recent [years] due to excess wind, frost, snow, fog, rain.' Surely it was not that bad today?

After having visited the Abbey I walked to the shore. I have to say it was very windy here and I struggled to keep my camera still. After having taken a few pictures I walked back into the town to have something to eat.


I had already seen on the internet that there was a JD Wetherspoon's in Arbroath as well, The Corn Exchange, so I went there for a quick pint and something to eat. However I almost choked in my spicy tomato pasta when I saw on Sky Sports News that the Arbroath game had been postponed. I was obviously quite annoyed to have made this journey for nothing now but I decided to make the most of it anyway. Going back to Glasgow immediately was no option as I had an advance ticket for the 17:29 train. I remembered nearby Montrose were playing Queen's Park so I walked up to the station. I had just missed the 14:22 train to Aberdeen and the next one was at 15:22. If I took that one I would arrive at Links Park in time for the second half, better than nothing. It also gave me some time to walk up to Gayfield Park and take some pictures there before heading for Montrose.

It was a short walk to the ground. It was very windy indeed and I struggled to keep the camera still in order to take a half-decent picture. Luckily the gate was open and I could take a few pictures inside as well.

The Harbour End.

The East Terrace.

The Seaforth End.

The Main Stand.

Another view from outside. Supposedly Gayfield Park is the closest to the sea of all stadiums in Europe. I am not sure if this is true but it is very close! After having taken these pictures it was back to the train station to take the train to Montrose.

Strathlclyde Homes Stadium (Dumbarton v Clyde)

Today it was off to Dumbarton, home of Dumbarton FC, who were Scottish Champions, in 1891 and 1892, although the 1891 title was shared with Rangers. Of course Dumbarton have not been as successful as that for quite a while although the Sons won the Scottish Third Division last year. The 'Sons' is a bit of a peculiar nickname but then again most nicknames are when you think of it. Apparently it is derived from the phrase 'Sons of the Rock' a term used for those born in the town of Dumbarton. The 'Rock' obviously refers to Dumbarton Rock, which is hard to miss when you are in Dumbarton. It is a 25-minute train journey from Glasgow Queen Street to Dumbarton East and from there it is only a five-minute walk.

Approaching the 'Strathclyde Homes Stadium' turnstiles with Dumbarton Rock in the background.

Dumbarton play their home games in the 'Strathclyde Homes Stadium', which is probably the worst name in Scottish League football at the moment. The stadium opened its doors in 2000 and replaced Dumbarton's traditional home, Boghead Park. There is only one stand with a capacity of 2,025, but the spectacular location still makes this an attractive destination for groundhoppers, even though it is a bit tricky to photograph the complete stand with Dumbarton Rock in the background.

The main entrance.

Today's opponents were Clyde, who were relegated from the First Division last season. Alan Lithgow scored the first two goals to give the Bully Wee a 2-0 lead after 24 minutes. However from the moment Clyde goalie Calum Reidford was sent off (for an attempted head-butt on Roddy Hunter) the Cumbernauld team started to struggle and Mick Dunlop pulled one back for the Sons just before the half-time whistle. Roddy Hunter scored the equaliser in the second half but it did not take long for Clyde to restore their lead as trialist Willie McLachlan scored from a beautifully taken free kick. Iain Chisholm scored the 3-3 only minutes before the final whistle and Dumbarton had a great chance to win it as well however this thriller did not deserve a losing team and 3-3 was the final score.

I have said it before, a stadium with a bar can never be a bad ground. There were loads of memorabilia on display as well.

A healthy crowd of 975 turned up for this Second Division game.


'Pellie' was happy to pose for a picture.


The Clyde goalie was sent off after 35 minutes.


Only one stand but some great views.

The single stand holds just over 2,000.

Another view from outside, I could not get enough of it!

Saturday 22nd August 2009
Scottish Football League Second Division
Dumbarton 3 Clyde 3
Dumbarton: Dunlop 45, Hunter 63, Chisholm 86.
Clyde: Lithgow 15, 24, A Trialist 65.
Att: 975