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

Hampden Park (Queen's Park v Albion Rovers)

Last night I took a train to Mount Florida to see Queen's Park take on Albion Rovers. Although I had been to Hampden many times before I had never visited it to see a home game of the Spiders. Queen's Park, founded in 1867, are the oldest football club in Scotland and are the only amateur team in the Scottish Football League. The National Stadium is their home ground but they usually fill only about one per cent of the stadium's capacity.

This was supposed to be my second game of three in five days, the first one being the Manchester derby last Saturday. Unfortunately however, AZ were unable to fly from the Netherlands to Scotland to take on Celtic at Celtic Park due to the volcanic ash cloud from Iceland so game number three was postponed to a later date, which has not yet been decided.

Both Queen's and the Wee Rovers are looking for a play-off spot and last night's 1-0 win means things are starting to look good for the amateurs. The game started off in spectacular fashion when Queen's goalie Mark McGeown fouled Marc McCusker after only four minutes but he managed to save Paul McLeod's spot-kick. After this frantic start both teams showed they were scared to lose this important game and this nervy affair had 0-0 written all over it. However Paul Douglas's 86th minute goals ensured the three point stayed in Glasgow.

Not the pre-match buzz I experienced on my previous visits to the National Stadium.

Pay at the gate but no queues at the turnstiles.

The only video screen in the Third Division.

The empty stands make for a somewhat bizarre atmosphere.

Mark McGeown saved Paul McLeod's penalty.

The loud contingent of Albion Rovers supporters can be seen in the background.

Celebrations after Barry Douglas scored a late goal and sent the Wee Rovers back to Coatbridge empty-handed.

Tuesday 20th April 2010
Scottish Football League Third Division
Queen's Park 1 Albion Rovers 0
Goal: Douglas 86.
Att: 522

Borough Briggs (Elgin City v Forfar Athletic)

Yesterday, just like I had done the previous weekend, I made use of the Sunday Mail/First ScotRail promotion, which meant I could travel by train to any destination in Scotland for only £15. And just like last week, when I went to see Ross County take on Inverness Caley Thistle in Dingwall, I was making sure I got my money's worth by travelling to another former Highland League ground. Borough Briggs is the home of Elgin City, who were founded in 1893 but only entered the Scottish Football League in 2000 together with another Highland League outfit, Peterhead. Peterhead were promoted to the Second Division in 2005 but Elgin have not been able to rise above the lowest tier of the SFL. In fact, after yesterday's results, they are the bottom team in the league.


After a two-and-a-half hour journey I arrived in Aberdeen. From the granite city it is another hour and a half to Elgin. I arrived in Elgin at around 13:30 and made my way to the ruins of Elgin Cathedral first, something I had come across when I was preparing this trip. As you can see, my trips are not all about drinking cans of lager on trains and visiting Wetherspoon pubs across the country! If you want to see the ruins from up close you have to cough up another £4.70 however. I had decided against paying the admission fee to see the ruins of Arbroath Abbey (also because of time constraints) however I regretted it afterwards so decided to drink just two pints less today. It was all quite interesting, only climbing the tower was a bit of a let-down as there was nothing to see at the top, not even windows you could look out of (and photograph Borough Briggs!).


After spending some time around the ruins of Elgin Cathedral I made my way to Elgin City's ground. Admittance at the gate was only £8, which makes it the cheapest ground in the SFL. It is a typical Third Division stadium with a small main stand (containing 478 seats) and a roofed terrace on the opposite sides. There are small terraces behind both goals.

The game was quite entertaining. In the first half City looked the better team however play-off hopefuls Forfar had a couple of chances as well. Despite this neither team were able to find the net. This changed in the second half, for Forfar at least, when Ross Campbell scored less than two minutes after the interval. Gavin Morrison should have equalised from the spot only minutes later but his penalty was saved by Forfar goalie Alistair Brown. Graham Gibson made sure the three points went to Forfar when he scored after a counter-attack six minutes before time. Since Montrose drew 1-1 against Berwick Rangers yesterday Elgin City are now at the bottom of the Third Division.

After the game I had my tea in the obligatory Wetherspoon's pub, The Muckle Cross. At 18:00 I took the train back to Aberdeen and I arrived home shortly after 23:00.

The main facade of Borough Briggs.

This free kick did not go in...

The main stand.

The covered enclosure opposite the main stand.

Elgin's second-half penalty was saved. The West terrace can be seen in the background.

Again the main stand. Elgin's Hummel shirts are very similar to St Mirren's.

The Muckle Cross, the local JD Wetherspoon's.


And finally a few more pictures of the cathedral, which is well worth a visit should you ever find yourself in Elgin.

Saturday 27th March 2010
Scottish Football League Third Division
Elgin City 0 Forfar Athletic 2
Goals: Ross Campbell 47, Gibson 84.
Att: 329

Galabank (Annan Athletic v Elgin City)

Today I went to Galabank in Annan to see Annan Athletic take on Elgin City in the Scottish Third Division. It is a two-hour train journey from Glasgow Central to the town near the Scottish-English border. The Galabankies only entered the Scottish Football League last season. They were admitted to the league to fill up the vacant spot that was left by the demise of Gretna FC, a club that also hailed from the region of Dumfries and Galloway.

Galabank has recently been upgraded to make it fully compliant with all SFL requirements. The Social Club is a welcoming place for a pre-match pint. Regular admission is only £9, making it the cheapest SFL club I have been to. There is only one stand, the rest are standing areas. There was no segregation in place today, in fact I did not see any Elgin fans.


The weather today was horrendous once again and I was expecting many games in Scotland to be cancelled today. It had been raining all night but I was adamant that I was going to visit a new ground today. I wanted to go to Annan but in case of a postponement I would be going to either Alloa or Dunfermline. Before getting my train tickets I had phoned the club and I was told the game was on. However it was only 11:30 and it was still raining. When I was walking from Annan station to Galabank I was sure the match was going to be cancelled but I was pleasantly surprised when I was informed it was definitely on. Miraculously the rain stopped minutes before kick-off and it stayed dry throughout the match. It turned out only one game was postponed in Scotland today (Livingston v Albion Rovers).

The game was quite entertaining with chances on both ends but no goals before half-time. The BBC website mentions David Niven as the scorer of the first goal only three minutes after the interval. Annan seemed a bit toothless, even more so after Peter Watson was dismissed for picking up a second booking 15 minutes before the end. Kyle MacAulay ensured a valuable away win for Elgin with a deflected shot in the 88th minute.

The new turnstiles seen from inside the ground with the clubhouse on the left.

The main stand before kick-off.

The very low parameter wall meant many balls ended up outside the ground. Take care driving past Galabank on match days!

The Annan dugout.

The rain stopped and we were even treated to a few rays of sunshine. It looked warmer than it actually was however.

The main stand after the game.

Saturday 14th November 2009
Scottish Football League Third Division
Annan Athletic 0 Elgin City 2
Goals: Nive 48, MacAulay 88.
Att: 416

Links Park (Montrose)

For pictures of a Montrose game at Links Park see this post.

After the game in Arbroath was cancelled yesterday afternoon I decided to make the most of my day so I took the train to Montrose. Montrose were playing Queen's Park in the Scottish Third Division. It took about fifteen minutes on the train to go to Montrose and it was a ten-minute walk to Links Park, home of Montrose FC. I had not really prepared this trip of course but the ground was easy enough to find. Unfortunately however I soon found out that this game was cancelled too. And I was not able to get inside the ground either so all there was left was taking some pictures holding my camera over all kinds of walls and fences.

The Main Stand.


The Main Stand seen from the side.


A panorama view of Links Park. From left to right the roofed Welling Street End terrace, the Union Street Side, the Beach End, and the Main Stand.

They like building things near the water in these parts...I now had to wait till 17:13 to take the train to Glasgow, or so I thought. A tree had fallen on the tracks near Stonehaven and all trains between Aberdeen and Dundee were affected. Eventually my train arrived at about 19:30. I spent the time in between cancelled trains in The Picture House, a large modern pub near the station.

This was the end of a long day with two new grounds but without any football.

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

Almondvale Stadium (Livingston v Montrose)

Today it was off to Livingston, to pay my first visit to Almondvale Stadium. This time I did not take the train because both Livingston North and Livingston South railway stations are quite far away from the ground. Instead I took the X15 First bus from Buchanan Bus Station in Glasgow which takes about an hour to take you to the Almondvale Shopping Centre which is very close to the ground. A return ticket is £8.60 but make sure you have the exact fare on you as you do not get any change.

Approaching Almondvale Stadium.

Only days before the Livi Lions were supposed to play their first game at Ross County in the First Division the Scottish Football League decided the West Lothian club were to be demoted to the Third Division because they had gone into administration at the end of June. Livingston had lost their appeal against the SFL's decision last Thursday and initially it was reported the club would not play the game against Montrose, just as they had not turned up at Ogilview Park last week to play East Stirlingshire as Livingstone believed playing this game would prejudice their case against the relegation to the fourth tier in Scottish football. However, the SFA gave assurances that playing today's game would not prejudice their case so Livingstone decided to go ahead with the game after all.

A view of the ground from the nearby multi-storey car park.

Meadowbank Thistle were a relatively unpopular league team from Edinburgh, founded in 1943 as Ferranti Thistle and renamed Meadowbank Thistle when they entered the SFL. They were moved to the 'new town' of Livingston in 1995 to play in the newly-built Almondvale Stadium in an NFL-esque way, very similar to what happened when Wimbledon became MK Dons. It is remarkable however that Livi still count the 1986 Second Division league title and the 1974 'Scottish Qualifying Cup (South)' when they list their honours. In 2001 Livingston were promoted to the SPL. I was at their first ever SPL game when they drew 1-1 at Ibrox. Livi ended the season in third place and qualified for the UEFA Cup. In 2004 they won the League Cup after beating Hibs 2-0 in the final at Hampden. By then the bubble had started to burst. They went into administration for the first time in February 2004. In 2006 they were relegated to the First Division.

Turnstiles leading to the West Stand, the only stand open today.

The ground is compact, just over 10,000 seats which was just enough to enter the SPL under the old requirements. A lot of Scottish football fans criticize the ground for being too 'plastic' but as new grounds go this is not a bad effort at all. Even though there were only just over 600 supportes in the ground according to the official attendance figure they were able to create quite some noise at times. It was clear that the Livi fans were dying to see their team play again, no matter what division they were playing in. Andrew Halliday scored the opening goal for the home team. Montrose then had Sean Crighton sent off after 35 minutes. From this moment it did not look like Livingston could ever lose this game even though after Halliday's second goal in the 54th minute the West Lothian team were not able to find the net for a third time despite a few decent chances. After the final whistle the team were given a rapturous applause by the clearly relieved home contingent. I hope for them the SFL will not come down too harshly on the club for not playing the game against East Stirlingshire. There has been talk of a 15-point deduction which would make it difficult to either avoid relegation from the First Division or win promotion from the Third to the Second Division.

The Carling Bar. A stadium with a bar can never be a bad ground although they were not serving any pints of lager today, only bottled beers. Both lagers on draught, Carling (obviously) and Peroni Nastro Azzuro (presumably introduced by former owner Angelo Massone?) were off unfortunately.

The South Stand.

The North Stand.

The East Stand.

The West Stand, the only stand in use today. The Montrose fans were seated in the far left corner.

Saturday 15th August 2009
Scottish Football League Third Division
Livingston 2 Montrose 0
Goals: Halliday 18, 54.
Att: 632