Stair Park (Stranraer v East Stirlingshire)

I have to admit, I have not been at that many football games lately. One of the reasons is that last season I started following new ice hockey club the Braehead Clan who play their home games at the Braehead Arena. Of course I have not lost my love for football and still enjoy the thrill of visiting new football grounds but the fact that ice hockey is something my wife is into as well does make a nice change from venturing up to Peterhead, Elgin and Dingwall just by myself.

Nevertheless I still want to complete my tour of the 42 tour of the Scottish league grounds and I want to visit as many of the 164 junior football grounds as I can.

On Saturday 10th December my wife went on her work's Christmas night out, which was the perfect opportunity for me to do some overdue groundhopping. I had my sight set on Stair Park, the home of Third Division side Stranraer FC, one of four league grounds I still had to see a game at. It it fairly easy to travel from Paisley to Stranraer as there is a direct train that takes you to the town in the southwest of Scotland. There is a catch though: there are only six trains a day and only two of them take you to Stranraer without having to change at Ayr. People used to travel on this train if they wanted to take the ferry to Northern Ireland. The last remaining ferry service was transferred to Cairnryan at the end of last year however and the days of the Glasgow-Stranraer railway line surely must be numbered.

There is another bizarre catch: an off-peak return ticket from Paisley Gilmour Street will cost you £37.80. If you get one at Glasgow Central, the starting point of the line where the train leaves twelve minutes before it rolls into Paisley, you pay only £26.90. If someone can explain to me how this works please let me know! I found this out by coincidence when I was pricing train journeys but buying a ticket from Glasgow (but hopping on at Paisley) saved me £8.90. I took the 11:53am train at Paisley Gilmour Street and arrived at my destination just before 2pm.

This gave me just enough time for the obligatory pre-match pint, which I had in the Custom House, a fairly big modern Wetherspoon-esque pub right next door to the Stranraer FC Fitba' Bar. The latter may have seemed a more obvious choice but I was not sure if it was members only. After a pint of Belhaven Best I made my way to the stadium. Stranraer's home is located in the middle a public park called Stair Park, hence the name of the ground.

Stair Park is a small but tidy Third Division ground with a modern main stand, built in 1995, which holds 1,524 fans. There is also an enclosure behind one of the goals, the Town End, and a small terrace behind the opposite goal. Across from the main stand you will find the Coo Shed. This was originally a terrace only but wooden seating was added in the 1990s. A nice bit of trivia is that Stranraer were the last league club in either Scotland or England to install floodlights in 1990.

Stranraer have had a good season so far. The Blues are currently second in the table and I would be surprised if they miss out on a play-off spot. East Stirlingshire are in familiar territory, i.e. bottom of the Third Division.

True to league form, also back in December, the home team did not have any problems with the Shire. Former Rangers midfielder Stephen Stirling opened the scoring when he scored from the spot on the half-hour mark. Stirling scored his second just two minutes later as he fired an effort into the top corner from 18 yards. Sean Winter added a third one minute later, which meant the match was effectively decided. Stuart McColm beat Shire goalie Calum Antell at his near post to add a fourth before Scott Taggart fired into the far corner just past the hour mark. Substitute Moore rounded off the scoring with eight minutes remaining.

After the game I went back to the Custom House for a pint since the next train to Paisley was scheduled for 7:08pm. I arrived home at about 9:30pm.

First a pint in the Custom House...


...next door to the Stranraer FC Fitba' Bar


Approaching Stair Park


The Town End terrace


The Coo Shed


Looking towards the small East Terrace


The modern-looking main stand

Stephen Stirling opens the scoring

Saturday 10th December 2011
Scottish Football League Third Division
Stranraer 6 East Stirlingshire 0
Goals: Stirling 30 (pen) 32, Winter 33, Stuart McColm 58, Taggart 63, Moore 83.
Att: 276

Station Park (Forfar Athletic v East Stirlingshire)

Today I visited a sun-drenched Station Park to see Forfar Athletic v East Stirlingshire, which was the second leg of the Second Division play-off semi-final. The first leg had ended 1-0 to Forfar and the Loons were favourites to make it through to a two-legged decider against (probably) Arbroath. East Stirlingshire had a good season, giving league winners Livingston a serious challenge until their form collapsed towards the end.

Station Park in Forfar is, despite its name, not near the local railway station. In fact the nearest station is 14 miles away, in Dundee. Forfar's station was closed years ago as part of the Beeching Axe. Of the 42 Scottish League grounds, four are not located anywhere near a train station which makes them more awkward for me to visit. The first of these four I visited two weeks ago (Bayview Stadium), the other two are Glebe Park (Brechin City) and Balmoor (Peterhead). Luckily I was able to travel to Dundee from Glasgow today with a half-price return ticket obtained through ScotRail's Advance loyalty scheme but this still set me back £16. In Dundee I had a pint in The Capitol, a Wetherspoon pub near Seagate Bus Station where I took the number 20 bus to Forfar (£6 for a day ticket, cheaper than a return according to the driver). After a pleasant 35-minute bus journey I got off at High Street East in Forfar. From there it was a ten-minute walk to the ground. The turnstiles did not open until 2:30pm so I took a few pictures outside the stadium first. After entering Station Park I made sure I tried one of the famous Forfar bridies first and I must say it did not disappoint.

The ground did not disappoint either, a pleasant old-fashioned football stadium with an all-seater main stand, a roofed terrace on the other side and terracing behind both goals. The Forfar fans were a bit quiet today but the boisterous Shire contingent were in good form.

James Bishop put Forfar 1-0 ahead in the 4th minute and I feared the contest was over already but East Stirling did not give up and it was all-square 15 minutes before time courtesy of two Andrew Rodgers goals. 'Away goals' do not count in these play-offs and extra time was looming until Stephen Tulloch scored the equaliser for the Loons. In the dying minutes East Stirlingshire were reduced to ten men when Edward Forrest was sent off after receiving a second yellow card.

Forfar will now play Arbroath (who beat Queen's Park 6-2 over two legs) on Wednesday. My bus just outside the ground arrived bang on time at 4:56pm and I was able to catch the 5:51pm train back to Glasgow.

A pre-match Erdinger in The Capitol.

The Main Stand before the game.

The Station Park turnstiles.

The Forfar bridie can definitely be recommended.

East Stirlingshire's boisterous travelling support.

The Shire are getting ready to take a free kick.

The Main Stand at half-time.

The East Terrace.

The covered South Terrace.

The West Terrace.

I was lucky to catch Forfar's equaliser on camera.

Saturday 8th May 2010
Scottish Football League Second Division Play-Off Semi-Final (Second Leg)
Forfar Athletic 2 East Stirlingshire 2 (aggregate: 3-2)
Forfar: Bishop 4, Tulloch 82.
East Stirling: Rodgers 49, 76.
Att: 745

Ochilview Park (East Stirlingshire v Livingston)

Last night it was off to Ochilview Park for East Stirlingshire against Livington. I was at this ground to see a Stenhousemuir game last July but as part of my plan to complete 'The 42' I had to visit it again to see the Shire. Normally I go to these 'neutral' games as a home supporter however I decided to enter the ground through the away gate so I could take some pictures from the roofed terrace.

This Scottish Third Division match was originally scheduled for 8th August however Livingston did not turn up at Ochilview Park because they did not accept their relegation from the First to the Third Division as a punishment for going into adminstration. However after having lost all their appeals the Lothian club decided to get on with it and they played all their scheduled home games from the second match day onwards.

East Stirlingshire originally hail from Falkirk and they used to play their home games at Firs Park (the ground is still there, for some excellent pictures click here). However the pitch was deemed too small according to new SFL regulations and the club did not have the funds to make the necessary improvements so they agreed on a groundshare deal with neighbouring Stenhousemuir FC. Many people wrongly believe East Stirlingshire come from the city of Stirling as the name of the club is often abbreviated as East Stirling.

In the past decade the Shire has acquired somewhat of a cult status as 'the worst football club in Britain.' The club ended bottom of the Third Division for a few years in a row. Author Jeff Connor even followed the team during the 2004/2005 season and turned it into a book called 'Pointless', which was subtitled "A season with Britain's worst football team". I have not read it myself yet. However recently the tide has turned somewhat. Last year the club ended in third place and nearly missed out on the play-off final in the semi final against Cowdenbeath.

Obviously the tide has turned for Livingston as well but in a rather more negative way. After promotion to the SPL in 2001 they qualified for the UEFA Cup after finishing third in their first season in the top flight. In 2004 they won the CIS Cup. From there it went downhill and there is still the possibility of a hefty point deduction for not showing up for their first scheduled Third Division match.

Last night the Shire started the match well and Stephen Maguire scored two first-half goals in give the part-time team a comfortable lead. Robbie Winter pulled one back for Livi just before the half-time whistle. Normally attendances at East Stirlingshire rarely exceed 350 so last night's 567, obviously helped by the relatively large travelling support, counts as a bumper crowd. I have to say the Shire fans were very vocal and created an excellent atmosphere at times.

In the second half the Lothian club looked the stronger team but they were not able to find the net. In fact it was East Stirlingshire's Simon Lynch who scored the only goal in the second half. The deserved 3-1 win meant the Shire climbed up to second place. Livingston are now in fifth place after having lost already three times in the league.

Fore more (and better) pictures of this ground see this post.

The Livingston fans on the terrace.

The stand in the background.

Wednesday 30th September 2009
Scottish Football League Third Division
East Stirlingshire 3 Livingston 1
East Stirlingshire: Maguire 18, 27, Lynch 82.
Livingston: R. Winters 44.
Att: 567