Murrayfield Stadium (Scotland v Wales)

A non-football post this weekend as my wife and I went to Edinburgh last Saturday to see the Scottish rugby union team play their first home game of the 2011 Six Nations Championship. Scotland were beaten 34-21 by France in their previous game but the three tries they scored against one of the usual favourites had led to some optimism in the Scotland camp. From what we witnessed against Wales however it had been another false dawn, one of many I have seen in the ten years that I have followed Scottish rugby.

The home game against Wales is my favourite of the Six Nations fixtures, because of the size of the Welsh travelling support, the atmosphere they create in Edinburgh and the idea that Scotland have a good chance of winning it although the Welsh have beaten Scotland many times in the past decade.

My wife and I had booked a room in the Apex European Hotel, which is situated conveniently close to both Murrayfield and Haymarket railway station. After getting off the train at Haymarket we dropped off our bag at the hotel and hopped on a bus to the city centre. Our first port of call, as always, was Tiles Cafe Bar, where we had a few drinks and lunch as well. We also watched Wayne Rooney score that goal against Man City and discovered that apparently everyone in Wales is a Man Utd fan. After a few Leffes we walked to George Street where we made a stop at the new JD Wetherspoon pub, the Alexander Graham Bell, before we headed for the stadium. We passed our hotel on our way to the ground so we decided to check in quickly and we found that our bag was already in our room. We were in our seats at Murrayfield just in time for kick-off.

The game itself was disappointing with a Shane Williams try giving Wales an early lead and Scotland never looking like they were able to win this match. A saving grace was our seats near the aisle and exit which made it easy to go and buy a beer now and then without missing too much of the action. The sale of alcohol is banned in all football stadiums in Scotland but the ban was lifted in other sports grounds such as Murrayfield a few years ago. In the last few years poor organisation leading to ridiculous queues at the various bars made it sound like a good idea in theory only. However this year the SRU finally got their act together and it only took a few minutes to buy a bottle of Carling (no Leffes unfortunately). Will we ever be able to buy a beer at Ibrox or Celtic Park? I cannot see it happening any time soon.

After a depressing 24-6 defeat we drowned our sorrows in the hotel bar but we will be back in good spirits again next weekend for the game against Ireland. We will have the same seats but there will be no overnight stay on 27th February.

For more pictures of Murrayfield see these posts: 2005 Heineken Cup Final, 2009 Heineken Cup Final and Scotland v England (2010).

Approaching Murrayfield from Roseburn Street.


In our seats before kick-off. That does not happen very often when we go to Murrayfield.

The West Stand.


Looking toward the North Stand. You can see some empty seats. 7,000 tickets remained unsold.


The East Stand.


The South Stand.


An empty West Stand after the game.


The North Stand.


The East Stand.

Saturday 12th February 2011

RBS 6 Nations Championship
Scotland (3) 6
Pen: Parks 2
Wales (16) 24
Try: Williams 2; Con: Hook; Pens: Hook 4
Att: 60,259

Murrayfield Stadium (Scotland v England)

Yesterday my wife and I took the train to Edinburgh for this year's edition of the Calcutta Cup. The Calcutta Cup is the trophy Scotland and England play for every year when they meet in the Six Nations Championship. However there are also points at stake and England needed to win this match if they wanted to retain the chance to win this tournement. After Scotland's defeat in Italy two weeks ago Scotland probably had to win this game to avoid ending the Six Nations with the wooden spoon.

Yesterday's game had a late kick-off time of 5pm which meant there was plenty of time for some pre-match refreshments in the centre of Edinburgh. We started the day at the Tiles Bar in St. Andrew Square which has become a bit of a traditional starting point when we go to Edinburgh to watch the rugby. After a few pints here and having watched Robbie Keane put three past hapless Kilmarnock we headed for Rose Street. We skipped The Standing Order, the massive JD Wetherspoon's pub, this time and went for a couple of the smaller pubs in Rose Street. As is the norm when Scotland play any of the home nations all pubs were packed to the rafters.

At around 16:00 we decided to make our way to the ground on foot. We normally leave about one hour before kick-off and we usually arrive in our seats just in time. Had our seats been in the South Stand instead of the North Stand we would have been in time for the national anthems as well.

I suppose the game itself was not for the purists but it was a close affair and tense from start to finish. Scotland never managed to score any tries (which was no surprise of course) but luckily neither did England. Glasgow's Dan Parks scored all 15 points for Scotland. Jonny Wilkinson became the all-time leading scorer in the history of the Five/Six Nations but he was replaced injured after having scored 9 points for the English. Leicester's Toby Flood scored two more penalties for England but in dramatic fashion missed a late penalty which would have won the game for England and Gloucester's Rory Lawson blocked his even later drop-goal attempt.

The 15-15 draw was the first draw between the two sides since 1989 but the 18th overall, which is apparently a record between two nations. The result did not suit any of the two teams but it meant the Calcutta Cup stays in England for at least another year.

Scotland win the line-out.

The West Stand.


The East Stand.


The South Stand in the background.

Dan Parks is about to score three of his 15 points today.

Saturday 13th March 2010
RBS 6 Nations Championship
Scotland (9) 15
Pens: Parks 4; drop-goal: Parks
England (6) 15
Pens: Wilkinson 3, Flood 2
Att: 66,891

Firhill Stadium (Glasgow Warriors v Edinburgh Rugby)

Yesterday, Boxing Day, I had planned to see St Mirren take on Aberdeen at St Mirren Park but unfortunately the game was cancelled because Strathclyde Police had concerns about the safety of the area surrounding the ground. There was nothing wrong with the pitch, mind, and the game was not called off until 12:30. I was glad I did not have to travel all the way from Aberdeen but after having phoned the club at noon to be told that the game was definitely on I was still pretty annoyed.

I decided to go to Firhill today instead to see the Magners League rugby game between Glasgow Warriors and Edinburgh Rugby, which was not only an important league game but also doubled as the first leg of the 1872 Cup, the trophy that is contested annually by the inter-city rivals. I consider myself a supporter of Glasgow, although I had not attended a game for four years, the last one a Heineken Cup pool game against Bath, also at Firhill. Let us just say I am the type of 'supporter' who always looks for their results in the paper! For some reason the only two professional Scottish teams do not attract the same support as their Magners League counterparts in Wales and Ireland. Leinster has an average attendance of 15,000, a figure that dwarfs the 2-3,000 that show up at Firhill every other Friday night.

With both Edinburgh and Glasgow sitting at the top of the Magners League table and with the help of an extensive marketing campaign in the past few weeks, the general expectation was that Glasgow's home attendance record (6,665 in last season's 1872 Cup derby) would be broken today. 8,830 Glasgow and Edinburgh fans showed up, thus setting a new record. Glasgow's Dan Parks set another record by becoming the first player to score 1,000 points in the Magners League. Parks, who is expected to complete a move to Cardiff Blues soon, only needed five points to reach the milestone. The Australian-born fly-half did not leave anything to chance however and scored an impressive 20 points this afternoon.

Glasgow were the dominant team today but they conceded more penalties than necessary. In the second half the Warriors were able to pull away and man-of-the-match Richie Vernon scored the only try of the match. The return-leg of the 1872 Cup will be played at Murrayfield on 2nd January. Interestingly, Edinburgh have never been able to beat Glasgow at Firhill but Glasgow rarely win in Edinburgh so the contest is still wide open, although I think the league is more important for both teams at the moment.

You will find pictures of a Partick Thistle football match at Firhill here.

Approaching Firhill Stadium.


The North Stand before the game. You could only purchase a ticket for this stand today.


The Main Stand.


The South Terrace, or what is left of it.


Chris Paterson scoring his first of four penalties for Edinburgh.


The Jackie Husband Stand.


Celebrations after Glasgow scored the only try of the match. Note the hideous Edinburgh shirts...


The Main Stand after the game.


The Jackie Husband Stand after the game.


The North Stand after the game.

Sunday 27th December 2009

Magners League

Glasgow (15) 25

Try: Vernon; cons: Parks; pens: Parks 5; drop-goal: Parks

Edinburgh (12) 12

Pens: Paterson 4

Att: 8,830

Leicester Tigers v Leinster (2009 Heineken Cup Final)

On Saturday 23rd May 2009 Murrayfield Stadium staged the final of the biggest club competion in world rugby for the second time, only four years after Toulouse lifted their third Heineken Cup at Murrayfield. Since 2005 the competion had grown even bigger and had seen three sold-out finals in Cardiff, Twickenham, and again Cardiff. Before it was even known what teams were going to compete in the final the public allocation of 45,000 was already sold out. I had bought my tickets the previous summer as I did not want to miss out on this after I had attended the 2005 final and because I wanted to make sure I would get the cheapest tickets, £10 dearer than the last Edinburgh final but still excellent value at £25.



The teams who were in the final, Leinster of Dublin and Leicester Tigers, were attractive sides and I was looking forward to this one. Because of the time I had spent in Leicester I was supporting the Tigers today. The Irish fans outnumbered their English counterparts and were much more vocal. The game itself was another tight affair, just like in 2005, however this time no extra time was required. Eventually Leinster won deservedly 19-16 and lifted the Heineken Cup for the first time, the third Irish side to do so after Ulster in 1999 and Munster in 2006 and 2008.

Another successful final was staged at Murrayfield but surely many Scottish supporters who were attending must have had mixed feelings. When will either Glasgow or Edinburgh appear on this stage? Edinburgh finished in second place in the Magners League, three points above finalists Leinster but still their best performance in the Heineken Cup is a single quarter-final appearance in 2004. This is a grim statistic and Glasgow's record in the competion is even worse. And even if Glasgow or Edinburgh were to reach a European final how many supporters would they take to Dublin or Paris, or even Cardiff or Twickenham? It is hard to imagine the same numbers that followed Munster and Leinster turning out for either Glasgow or Edinburgh in the near future no matter what the occasion.

The Leinster fans outnumbered and outsong the supporters of England's most popular rugby club.

The Tigers players collecting their runners-up medals.

These guys looked a lot happier.

Unlike 2005 there is now a zero-tolerance policy towards pitch invaders at Murrayfield.

Of course people still try to make it on the pitch, probably after having consumed too much of the main sponsor's most popular product...

...which led to amusing scenes for the rest of us.

Saturday 23rd May 2009, Murrayfield
Heineken Cup Final
Leicester Tigers 16 Leinster 19
Att: 66,523

Stade Français v Toulouse (2005 Heineken Cup Final)

On Sunday 22nd May 2005 the tenth edition of the Heineken Cup final was staged in Scotland for the first time. The only appropriate setting in Scotland for a rugby event of this magnitude is of course Murrayfield Stadium in Edinburgh, the home of Scottish rugby. The Heineken Cup is the Champions League of rugby union, a competition in which the best club teams in Europe battle it out to be crowned the best club team in Europe. After the humble beginnings in 1995 (when no English or Scottish clubs participated) the Heineken Cup has evolved to become the biggest club competition in world rugby.



The two teams in the final were Stade Toulousain, commonly known simply as Toulouse, and Stade Français. I had bought the tickets for this final months in advance and when it turned out that the two teams participating in it were both from France I was slightly disappointed. I had hoped to see at least one British or Irish side in the final to increase the chance of a sell-out final. Also I feel it is never a good thing if two teams in a European final, whether it is in rugby or in football, hail from the same country. The atmosphere is different, and also I feel it is less appealing for the neutral viewer. Moreover I had wanted to see one of the bigger teams in European club rugby I had never seen in the flesh, like Northampton and particularly Leicester Tigers.

I need not have worried. Although the final was not sold out, a respectable attendance figure of 51,326 was by no means an embarrassment for the organisers. Especially the Toulouse fans created a magnificent atmosphere. Toulouse is a city in the southwest of France, very much rugby heartland, and their supporters were as loud and colourful as the most partisan football fans. The Parisians who rooted for Stade Français were a lot quieter.

As always when I go to Murrayfield I had gone for the cheapest tickets. The difference in price for different sections of the ground is staggering and the dearer tickets usually cost about three times as much as the cheapest ones. The £15 tickets I had bought were perfect for me. We were close to the vocal Toulouse fans and we started supporting Stade Toulousain more and more as the game went on. The game was a thriller without any tries but plenty of suspense. After 80 minutes the score was 12-12 (after a late Toulouse penalty) so extra time was required. It remained a kicking game in extra time and another penalty and a drop-goal were enough to earn Toulouse their third Heineken Cup trophy.

The blue-clad Stade Français fans in the opposite corner.

The partisan Toulouse fans luckily were in our corner.

Winning the Heineken Cup for a third time sparked joyful scenes.

The Toulouse players celebrated in our corner.

Note the many blue Stade Français flags but I did not notice any nastiness between the two sets of supporters.

Sunday 22nd May 2005
Heineken Cup Final
Stade Français 12 Toulouse 18 (AET)
Att: 51,326