Love Street (St Mirren v Motherwell)

These pictures were taken during St Mirren's final game at Love Street on 3rd January 2009. The match was a rare sell-out but unfortunately a rather boring game and no goals. St Mirren had called this their home ground since 1894. St Mirren played their first game at the new St Mirren Park against Kilmarnock on 31st January 2009.

See also these pictures of Love Street taken in February, March, and July 2010.

The East Stand or Reid Kerr Family Stand.

The Main Stand.

The East Stand at half time.

The North Bank, which housed the most fanatic Saints supporters.

The Main Stand again.

Fireworks after the final whistle. The end of an era...

Saturday 3rd January 2009
Scottish Premier League
St Mirren 0 Motherwell 0
Att: 10,189

Fir Park (Motherwell v St Mirren)

For pictures of the 2010 Co-operative Insurance Cup semi-final at Fir Park click here.

On Saturday 18th April Martijn and I took the train to Motherwell to see the Steelmen take on St Mirren. There was a special offer today, only £5 to attend an SPL game in a ground I had not visited yet could not be snubbed. This was an important game for both Motherwell and the Saints however more so for the Paisley club as they had dropped down the table in the last few weeks and relegation was a serious threat. Motherwell needed a win to secure a top-six finish in the SPL. Both teams were not playing well and the 2-0 win was a flattering result for the Buddies however nobody in the away end, where we were seated, seemed to mind.

The Phil O'Donnell Stand (previously called the Main Stand) seen from the outside. The stand is of course named after the Motherwell player who so tragically died on the pitch during the home game against Dundee United on 29th December 2007.

A view on the Davie Cooper Stand from the away end. The two-tier away end is probably the most impressive of the four stands but unfortunately I was not able to take a good picture of it.

The East Stand with the famous 'Keep cigarettes away from the match' NHS advertising.

The Phil O'Donnell Stand does not cover the entire length of the pitch but the steel construction that supports it does. The Scottish Football Ground Guide gives this explanation: 'According to Simon Inglis in his book 'The Football Grounds Of Great Britain', this was because it was originally intended in 1962 to build a full length stand but due to a dispute with a an owner of a house beyond the corner of that ground (a dispute which the club lost) it was never completed as intended.'

Andy Dorman scored the second Saints goals only three minutes before time to the delight of the large travelling contingent on the South Stand. Note the score board, a rare feature in SPL grounds. Until 2005 the SPL required their clubs to have stadiums with a capacity of at least 10,000 but they apparently do not care about such simple features as a score board.

Another view of the Phil O'Donnell Stand after the final whistle.

The East Stand after the game.

The Davie Cooper Stand seen from the outside.

The club shop and ticket office.

Saturday 18th April 2009
Scottish Premier League
Motherwell 0 St Mirren 2
Goals: Thomson 77, Dorman 87.
Att: 6,626

New Douglas Park (Hamilton Academical v Motherwell)

For other pictures of New Douglas Park see this post.

On Saturday 20th December Martijn and I got on a train with destination Hamilton West to visit the Lanarkshire derby between Hamilton Academical and Motherwell. Hamilton had only been promoted last season and were plying their trade in the top tier for the first time in 19 years. I thought this would be a fiercely contested battle but how wrong I was. Only 3,527 fans showed up to see this game which was probably also due to the fact that this game was all-ticket.


This was my second trip to Hamilton in five days as I had to purchase the tickets at the ticket office at New Douglas Park. I had phoned the club to enquire about availability, fearing this might become a sell-out when I was told that they could not accept credit card bookings because the bank, either the Bank of Scotland or the Royal Bank, would not let the club accept credit card payments since they got into financial trouble a few years ago. As it happened I had a day off on the Tuesday before the game so I went to Hamilton just to get a couple of tickets. To be honest it is easy to travel to from Glasgow Central, about 20 minutes on the train, and the ground is a ten-minute walk from Hamilton West station.


The game was quite disappointing. Motherwell fans chanting 'We hate Airdrie more than you' was an indication that this was not going to be the intense derby I had hoped for. One who did not disappoint was Hamilton's 18-year-old gem James McCarthy who scored both goals.

The ground was not very impressive either. Only two proper stands, The North Stand (or Spice of Life Stand) and the Main Stand (or Reid Furniture Stand) give the impression that the stadium is still under construction but last season's attendance figures do not suggest that further development is required. This seems to be something typical of Scottish football. Rather than building a complete stadium with the required capacity some clubs insist on building individual stands that are much too big and you end up with a half-built stadium, see also Falkirk. Despite all the criticism it gets I think a ground like New St Mirren Park is a much better solution and provides a better atmosphere as well.

The Spice of Life (North) Stand housed a slightly disappointing number of Motherwell fans.

The 'Temporary Stand' remained empty.

No stand (yet?) at the southern end of the ground.

We had started off our visit to Hamilton with a couple of pints in The Tap Room near Hamilton West station.

Saturday 20th December 2008
Scottish Premier League
Hamilton Academical 2 Motherwell 0
Goals: James McCarthy 45, 67.
Att: 3,527