I watch a lot of YouTube videos in bed at night in an attempt to lull myself to sleep. I have mixed results with this tactic. It sometimes works if I am in the mood to listen to some soft rock, but most of the time I opt for punk rock bands of the 70’s or Britpop anthems from the 90’s.These tracks only serve to energise me, but last night I found myself having to make the conscious decision to turn off my tv in the wee small hours of the morning. I had been watching the vlogs of Footy Adventures, which I would heartily recommend to those of you who are interested in football stadiums and architecture.
These vlogs reminded me of a series of articles that I was sharing with my blog readers, back in 2015/16.
Between 2002-2008 I was Scottish Correspondent for the wonderfully professional Groundtastic – The Football Grounds Magazine. I can not speak highly enough of the editors and contributors to this glossy magazine that is jam-packed with interesting information and photographic gold.
I haven’t been a subscriber to the magazine since my marriage imploded in 2008 and I was forced to leave Scotland. Since then my dexterity has deteriorated to such an extent that I now find it impossible to simply thumb through a magazine.
Imagine my excitement then when I visited the Groundtastic website to discover that they now have a digital edition available I’ll definitely be subscribing.
Anyway, over the next few months I will be sharing a number of articles that I penned during my time North of the Border, including my regular Scots Scene news round-up of potential football ground developments and improvements. The following is from Autumn 2004 and it will be evident to ground enthusiasts and football fans just how much has changed from the era in which it was written…
Enjoy a short step back in time.
***
The front cover to this issue of Groundtastic features Caledonian Stadium, home of Inverness Caledonian Thistle. The magazine included a feature on this developing stadium which was written by myself. My fat fingered ex-wife actually took this cover photo on my precise instructions.
I remember returning to the stadium on my own at one point to take some extra pictures. It must have been a few years after this as they had just built a new stand. This was the last decent picture that I took myself and I will share this at a later date. You probably also want to read the feature about Caledonian Stadium, which will appear alongside it soon.
PARTICK THISTLE’S Firhill will be staging First Division football next season. It had originally appeared that the Jags had been saved from relegation after the SPL voted 7-5 against INVERNESS CALEDONIAN THISTLE’S promotion and proposed groundshare at Pittodrie – one short of the eight required for change.. However, Hearts and Hibernian – two of the clubs who voted against the proposal – forced a second vote as they claim the clubs received unclear advice before making their original decision. Partick were not happy with the prospect of a second vote and launched a legal bid to block the ballot. However, the vote went ahead and ICT was granted promotion to the SPL by a margin of 10-2.
However, Partick still had some fight left in them and decided to appeal to the SFA against their relegation from the top flight. However, the SFA said they had no jurisdiction to rule on the SPL’s decision to promote Caley Thistle forcing Partick to grudgingly accept the situation. A statement released by the relegated club read: “Although there are other legal options available these would be time consuming and incur further expense. First and foremost we are a football club and all our energies will now be channelled in that direction. The legal steps taken by this club were always with a tacit acceptance that the SFA was the ultimate authority in Scottish football and with the aim of achieving an independent interpretation of Rule A2.3.1. of the Rules of the Scottish Premier League. The Board now accepts that this will not be possible”.
At the second meeting, which sealed Partick Thistle’s fate, the SPL also voted to approve stadium requirements of 6,000 seats instead of 10,000 from next season.
Just to complicate matters further, following the second vote DUNFERMLINE and DUNDEE UNITED proposed to bring the new 600 seat criteria forward by a season and allow ICT to play in their home town. Inverness had said they could upgrade the Caledonian Stadium to incorporate 6000 covered seats in 12 weeks, if they were allowed a waiver to play at home. The Highland Council also agreed to offer Inverness a £400,000 loan towards the cost of improving their home. However, other top-flight clubs indicated there is little enthusiasm for such a move and the plans were shelved.
ICT have therefore accepted their groundshare agreement with Aberdeen and will pay around £35,000 per match for use of Pittodrie – a total of £665,000 for the season. At least the Caley Jags won’t have to worry about travel expenses after coach company Rapsons offered the club free travel to ‘home’ matches in Aberdeen. In addition, supporters will also be given preferential rates. Adults pay £5 while children only pay £3 making travel more affordable.
Following their failure to win promotion and updated SPL ground criteria, cash-strapped CLYDE has suspended plans to develop Broadwood’s fourth stand. However, the club stresses they have not ‘aborted’ their plans completely. Councillor Jim Logue said: “We are currently working with a consultant to conduct an audit of all the facilities within the Broadwood Stadium development and will use this information to determine the way forward. We remain committed to the development of Broadwood Stadium as a valuable community resource.”
New Douglas Park – the home of HAMILTON ACADEMICALS – has been fitted with a new artificial surface known as Fieldturf at a cost of almost £400,000. This is different from the much-criticised surface at Dunfermline’s East End Park but similar to the one used by Rangers, Hearts and a host of English Premiership clubs at their training complexes. Accies chairman Ronnie MacDonald said: “It’s a tremendous surface. Training facilities in Scotland are appalling, while none of our youth teams are currently able to play in Hamilton. With this new set-up, all of our teams, from the under-sevens to the under-19s, the women’s team and the first team will be able to play and train at New Douglas Park.” The Scottish Football League has sanctioned the move and, under the conditions of the agreement, all opponents will be allowed to train on the park ahead of games. Meanwhile, planning permission had been granted for the sale of land adjoining New Douglas Park to Morrison Supermarkets.
Centenary Group Ltd is the new owner of New Broomfield. Airdrieonians liquidator KPMG sold the ground –also known as the Excelsior Stadium – for £800,000. Current tenants AIRDRIE UNITED have 24 years of a 25-year lease remaining.
After receiving an offer for Cliftonhill, ALBION ROVERS actually made a bid for New Broomfield but lost out as Centenary Group could ensure immediate payment while the sale of Rovers’ run down ground could take months to go through. However, the club were contacted soon after by New Broomfield’s latest owners and offered a lease. This led to an explosive shareholders meeting where officials investigated three options to safeguard the future of the club: redevelop Cliftonhill, sell the ground and share with another club or build a new stadium. Little was resolved at this meeting but a week later the board of directors announced the club would stay at Cliftonhill for the coming season. The club applied for a 12 month safety certificate from North Lanarkshire council but to keep costs to a minimum they only applied for the safety certificate to cover the main stand and not the rarely used terracing. Meanwhile, a group of shareholders shall be formed to study the stadium situation. This is dependent on structural and electrical surveys, commissioned by the club, not finding something that cannot be repaid economically. In addition, discussions about a training facility with North Lanarkshire Council continue, as do discussions about the purchase of land for pitches.
EAST STIRLINGSHIRE could be moving away from Firs Park after the club received a £1.5 million offer for the ground. The offer is thought to be from a housing development group. If the deal materialises, East Stirling may move to the recently renovated Grangemouth Stadium a few miles away.
