Ochilview Park (Stenhousemuir v Falkirk)

Yesterday I kicked off the new football season with a visit to Ochilview Park to see Stenhousemuir take on Falkirk for the Stirlingshire Cup. This all took place in the village of Stenhousemuir in, you guessed it, Stirlingshire.



I took the train from Glasgow Central to the village of Larbert. The train journey took only 20 minutes and from Larbert station it was only a ten-minute walk to the ground which, as of last season, is now also home to East Stirlingshire FC. The ground is, as you would expect, fairly small with only two stands. The Tryst Road Terrace is a roofed terrace at one end of the ground. This stand housed the Falkirk supporters last night, although it is my understanding that there is no segregation in place at most Stenhousemuir home games. The Main Stand is a fairly modern all-seater stand. It is now called the Norway Stand as it is sponsored by a group of Norwegian supporters (yes, Norwegian supporters).



The game was quite entertaining, even though Falkirk fielded a team consisting mainly of youth players. Andrew Stirling opened the score for Stenhousemuir after 17 minutes. Craig O'Reilly then made it 2-0 to the Warriors six minutes later before Paul Sludden scored for the Bairns after another 6 minutes. Three goals after less than an hour played is of course not bad but unfortunately none of the players were able to find the net in the 60 minutes that were to follow.

All in all an entertaining night and I was able to do it on a budget, £5 to get inside the ground and the programme was free. Also, because I was working that day there was no time to go to the pub so a very cheap night indeed. I will have to go back soon to visit an East Stirlingshire game.

Turnstiles leading to the Norway Stand.

The Tryst Road Terrace after the game.

The Norway Stand after the game.

The Norway Stand seen from inside the ground.

The Tryst Road Terrace housed the Falkirk Fans who showed up in good numbers despite the fact that there was no mention of this game at all on the Falkirk FC website.

No stands on the other side or other end of the pitch.

Tuesday 7th July 2009
Stirlingshire Cup
Stenhousemuir 2 Falkirk 1
Stenhousemuir: Stirling 17. O'Reilly 23.
Falkirk: Sludden 29.
Att: 701

Rangers v Falkirk (2009 Scottish Cup Final)

Newly-crowned Scottish champions Rangers were taking on Falkirk in the final of the Homecoming Scottish Cup. Falkirk had only barely avoided relegation by beating Inverness at the Caledonian Stadium so Rangers were odds-on favourites to win the double.


Although St Mirren had lost the semi-final of the Scottish Cup to Rangers I was not going to miss out on the final so I cheated: I went as a Falkirk supporter. It was a lovely warm day at Hampden and days like this do not come along very often at the national stadium, at least not when I am there. The game was good too, surprisingly good. I had not expected this after the disappointing semi-final. There did not seem to be much belief amongst the Falkirk contingent that the Bairns were capable of winning their first Scottish Cup since 1957 however this had not rubbed off on the players.

During many spells of the game the boys from Falkirk were the better team however they were not able to find the net. That is not something you can say about Nacho Novo: he came on as a substitute and scored the winning goal seconds after. It turned out to be a beauty when I saw it on the telly later that night because I had missed it: I was waiting in the ridiculously long queue at the food stand.

Falkirk never gave up but they were not able to pull one back so Rangers completed a league and cup double to the delight of their supporters.

The Falkirk fans.

This is not what Hampden normally looks like.

The Rangers fans outnumbered the Bairns fans about 3 to 1.

The players coming onto the pitch.

Falkirk gave Rangers a good game but were unable to find the net.

The Rangers players celebrating their cup win.

Saturday 30th May 2009
Rangers 1 Falkirk 0
Homecoming Scottish Cup Final
Novo 46.
Att: 50,956

Falkirk Stadium (Falkirk v Dundee United)

On Tuesday 3rd March 2009 Martijn and I took the train from Glasgow Queen Street to Falkirk Grahamston to pay our first ever visit to the Falkirk Stadium. As I had planned to visit all SPL stadiums during the 2008/09 season, £12 tickets to see Falkirk play Dundee United was too good an offer to miss out on. The £12 tickets were for the East Stand which is a temporary stand with a canvas roof. The stand is not much to look at but it was the stand the best pictures could be taken from.

After a 45-minute train journey we arrived in Falkirk. As this was an evening fixture on a normal working-day there was no time to visit any pubs for a pre-match refreshment (not that we saw any) so we headed straight for the ground. Tonight we had typical Scottish weather again, i.e. torrential rain throughout the night. We arrived at the stadium soaking wet but it was even worse when we took the 25-minute walk back to the station. During the game we stayed dry despite a few leaks in the canvas roof above us.

The game was not that exciting, the only goal coming from a first-half United penalty but for £12 I could not really complain. I would like to come back here on a sunnier day when the South Stand is finished, possibly when the Bairns are playing St Mirren.

The West Stand.

The North Stand which housed the Dundee United fans.

The East Stand, which is just a temporary stand with a canvas roof.

The South Stand which is almost finished now (see recent photos here) but they had just started work on it when we visited the ground.

This picture clearly shows the appalling weather conditions in which this game was played.

Tuesday 3rd March 2009
Scottish Premier League
Falkirk 0 Dundee United 1
Goal: Conway 27 pen.
Att: 4,385