Ground #385 - Cliftonhill

Date: 6th May 2023
Location: Coatbridge, North Lanarkshire, Scotland

Ground: Cliftonhill

My tenth new ground of 2023 was on Saturday 6th May at Cliftonhill in Coatbridge, North Lanarkshire, Scotland. The game was Albion Rovers vs. Stirling Albion in Scottish League Two.

Cliftonhill is in a residential area of Coatbridge on the eastern outskirts of Glasgow. The oval shaped venue is bordered by housing to the north and west, a courthouse to the east and a retail and industrial zone across the road to the south. It is very well served by railway stations with the nearest half a mile north at Coatdyke. In addition Whifflet to the south, Coatbridge Sunnyside to the north-west and Airdrie to the north-east are all around a mile away. The venue has been home to the club since construction in 1919 when they moved from Meadow Park where they had played since 1882.

The ground still retains a partial oval shape in light of its days as a multi-purpose venue when it hosted speedway and greyhound racing. This is seen most clearly at the unused western end where a semi-circle a flat grass behind the goal gives way to a raised grass bank behind. The opposite end of the field has been converted with the oval shape removed to make room for a car park. This end saw the installation of an uncovered concrete terrace in 2015 to allow for spectator segregation.

The main side of the ground is the southern side where the entrance turnstiles are located. The main stand has 489 seats for the back half with four supporting beams in front. In front of this is a covered concrete terrace with four more supporting beams holding up the roof extension. This gives the unusual situation for people in the back of the stand to have two rows of supporting beams. The players tunnel is in the middle of the bottom section. There is uncovered standing in front of this and to the eastern part of this side of the ground where a covered disabled supporters section is positioned. The western side leads up to a club shop demountable and viewing is not allowed. The northern side of the ground has a concrete terrace for the whole length which is mostly covered except for small sections at either end. However, this side has been closed to spectators for some time with it not in a fit state to be used.

This was the final game of the League Two season - Albion were bottom and facing down a fight to keep their league status via the relegation play-off. Stirling were at the other end of the table having secured the title but had not lost a game for over five months. Albion knew their task - they had to win and hope that Bonnyrigg Rose lost at home to Elgin. With this in mind it was the hosts who started the better - in the 9th minute Joe Bevan did well to ride a couple of challenges before laying off to Euan Mutale on the right of the area who saw his shot saved. The closest Stirling came was in the 34th minute was Flynn Duffy's shot low to the keeper's right was comfortably saved. A nervy first half gave way to a more open second with Rovers taking the lead six minutes after the interval. Blair Malcolm passed the ball to Joe Bevan on the left side of the box and he slotted into the far corner. The celebrations were short-lived though as word reached Cliftonhill that Bonnyrigg had scored against Elgin. News from New Dundas Park would only get worse as the afternoon progressed so when Albion Rovers added a second in the 75th minute the cheers were muted. This goal came about when Bevan's shot was saved with Charlie Reilly smashing the rebound into the roof of the net. Reilly then hit the top of the crossbar with seven minutes to go with a 2-0 win for Albion proved academic with Bonnyrigg's 3-0 win against Elgin securing safety in their first season in the league. Two weeks later Albion's 120 stay in the Scottish Football League came to an end when they lost 2-1 on aggregate to Lowland League winners Spartans who took their place in League Two for the 2023/24 season.

Result: Albion Rovers 2-0 Stirling Albion

Division: Scottish League Two

Attendance: 623

Ground #340 - Ings Lane

Date: 26th December 2019
Ground: Ings Lane
Location: Tadcaster, North Yorkshire

My fifty-fifth new ground of 2019 was on Thursday 26th December at Ings Lane in Tadcaster, North Yorkshire. The game was Tadcaster Albion vs. Brighouse Town in Northern Premier League Division One North West.

Ings Lane sits on the banks of the River Wharfe just south of the centre of the town. The river runs along the north-east side of the ground and has caused flooding on several occasions - this is leading the club considering a more secure new venue in the future. There are a handful of houses behind the south-eastern end but otherwise the ground is surrounded by industrial units including multiple breweries, something the town is well known for. The nearest railway station is 6.5 miles south at Church Fenton, though better transport links can be found to York station which is 11 miles north-east of the ground. The fact the club were formed as John Smith's FC gives a clue to the fact they have operated at the venue adjacent to the brewery since their inception in 1892.

The entrance to the ground is on the south-west side. To the north of the turnstiles is a toilet block and food outlet while to the south there is a raised club building including a bar. The dressing rooms are contained within and lead out of the middle of the structure onto the field of play. To the right of the clubhouse is a three-level uncovered concrete terrace while to the left is a seven-level covered concrete terrace. At pitch side there is uncovered concrete standing for the entire length of the pitch.

The north-east side is fairly sparse with just two dugouts and a TV gantry. For spectators there is hard standing for the full length with a thin grass area behind. The main stand is a 236 seater structure behind the north-west goal which opened in 2016. The seating is spread across four rows and it features a designated disabled viewing section at the bottom. There is hard standing in addition to this although the areas next to the stand are cordoned off. The remaining stand is the 50-seat Ken Gilbertson Stand to the east of the goal at the other end of the field. Behind this end there is a large grass area to supplement the hard standing in front.

Both sides were around the play-off places coming into the game so it was always going to be an even affair. The first half was a very poor spectacle with the only interesting action coming in the 25th minute when a poor goal kick by Jordan Porter was returned back to him by an opposition player. Porter's second attempt to clear was similarly bad and went straight to a home attacker who attempted to lob the stranded keeper from 45 yards. Fortunately for Porter the ball went just wide of the goal to keep it 0-0. The second half was a much better event and the opening minutes saw more action than the entire first 45 minutes. In the opening seconds of the second period a cross fell to Tadcaster's Alex Wiles who saw his shot saved at close range. A bit of a scramble ensued which culminated in the ball falling to Jake Day who slotted wide from a couple of yards out much to his disbelief. Day had another chance in the 49th minute when a through ball put him in on goal and he blazed over under pressure from the advancing keeper Porter. Four minutes after this Brighouse escaped again - Adam Porritt did well to win the ball off a visiting defender in the corner and his fizzed cross was cleared off the line by Harrison Beeden. The visitors weathered this storm and almost snatched the lead with twenty minutes left - substitute Alhassane Keita set off on a mazy run beating a couple of defender before dragging his shot wide when in the box. It summed up a second half not short on chances but suffering from poor finishing. Tadcaster really tried to get all three points in the final minutes and went closest in the third minute of injury time when Alfie Beestin's low 20-yard drive was well saved by Porter. The full-time whistle sounded shortly afterwards with a point moving Tadcaster up a spot in the table and Brighouse down a spot.

Result: Tadcaster Albion 0-0 Brighouse Town
Division: Northern Premier League Division One North West
Attendance: 347

Ground #303 - Forthbank Stadium

Date: 9th April 2019
Stadium: Forthbank Stadium
Location: Stirling, Scotland

My eighteenth new ground of 2019 was on Tuesday 9th April at Forthbank Stadium in Stirling, Scotland. The match was Stirling University vs. The Spartans in the Scottish Lowland League.

Forthbank Stadium is part of a sports complex on the eastern edge of Stirling. Its neighbours include The Peak leisure centre to the west and Stirling County Cricket Club to the north-east. There are also additional football and hockey pitches and half a dozen cage mini pitches to the north-west corner. The southern and eastern sides are given over to a large amount of car parking spaces. A mile east of Stirling railway station and the town centre, Forthbank Stadium was opened in 1993 as the new home for Stirling Albion FC with the club leaving their outdated Annfield ground after a 48 year stay. As well as primarily being the home stadium for Stirling Albion it is also shared by Stirling University FC who were the team in action on this occasion.

The West Stand is the largest one at the ground running around three-quarters of this side of the venue. The all-seater structure has a capacity of around 1,500 and with attendances rarely hitting four figures is usually the only one open for home supporters. This stand has a few hospitality boxes along the back row and the interior includes the reception, club shop and a gym. At the front of the stand are the two dugouts and a space for a flat platform for disabled fans to view the game from.

The East Stand is a little smaller taking up around two-thirds of the eastern flank. It is otherwise similar in appearance to the West Stand and has around 1,000 seats. The stand is given over to away supporters and has a police control room and press room at the back of it. The northern and southern ends have uncovered concrete terraces assigned two-thirds of the space behind the two goals. Near identical in nature they both have capacities of 650 and are only used for rare occasions when the crowd size requires them. With none of the stands running the full length of their respective sides this results in very large gaps between all four with wide expanses of dirt separating them.

With the end of the season fast approaching there was only pride at stake as 13th place side Stirling University took on 5th placed side The Spartans. An even opening to the game saw both sides creating chances - in the 5th minute a spinning 20 yard effort by Spartans' Blair Atkinson required home keeper Kevin Walker to tip the ball over the bar. Meanwhile at the other end Stirling wanted a penalty in the 9th minute when Blair Lyons raced into the area and was unceremoniously bundled over. The referee waved away the protests but the hosts were in a better mood when they opened the scoring in the 25th minute. An excellent cross was whipped in from the left by Callum Downie for Craig Brown to head down and past the keeper from six yards out. In the 32nd minute Stirling were a whisker away from a second when Euan Baird took a very good first-time shot on the left of goal only to see it come back off the post. Spartans' came back though and after Blair Atkinson was denied by Kevin Walker in the 36th minute they managed to equalise just one minute later. It came from a speculative 25 yard shot from Jamie Dishington which found the bottom corner of the net. If the away side thought they would be going into half-time on level pegging that was shattered a couple of minutes before the break when Dominic Slattery's great 25 yard free-kick found the roof of the net to restore Stirling's lead. The fourth goal of the game arrived in the 63rd minute as Spartans levelled things up - David Greenhill picked out Jamie Dishington on the right and he danced past a couple of defenders and poked a shot towards goal which hit the Kevin Walker before squirming over the line. Just three minutes later Stirling went back ahead and again it came from a Dominic Slattery free-kick. Slattery's shot initially seemed harmless but Spartans goalie Blair Carswell misjudged the bounce and it awkwardly went over him into the top corner. With ten minutes to go Stirling went two goals to the good for the first time - a corner to the back post fell to Matt Burrows who curled a shot into the opposite corner of the net. Spartans attempt to get something out of the game took another blow two minutes later when Michael Herd's late tackle of Blair Lyons saw him pick up a second booking of the game. Spartans did manage to get the ball in the net in the 89th minute but with it being ruled out for offside that was it for their evening's efforts as Stirling ran out winners.

Result: Stirling University 4-2 The Spartans
Division: Scottish Lowland League
Attendance: N/A

Ground #200 - Falmer Stadium

Date: 9th August 2016
Ground: Falmer Stadium
Location: Falmer, East Sussex

My eleventh new ground of 2016 was on Tuesday 9th August at Falmer Stadium in Falmer, East Sussex. The match was Brighton & Hove Albion vs. Colchester United in the Football League Cup 1st Round.

Falmer Stadium, currently known as the American Express Community Stadium or the Amex, lies in the midst of two university campuses - the University of Brighton and the University of Sussex. To the north-east of Brighton the ground is located just off the A27 and is served by Falmer railway station which is adjacent to the site. The venue was opened in 2011 giving the club a permanent home for the first time since leaving the Goldstone Ground in 1997.

The stadium's unusual shape, designed to fit in with the surrounding rolling hills, sees to large stands running alongside the pitch and short ends behind the two goals. When the venue opened in 2011 there were four separate seating areas but within six months the club applied to add an additional 8,000 seats taking the overall capacity to 30,750 by the end of the 2012/13 season. The result of this is that all four quadrants have been filled in creating a lower tier bowl throughout the ground. With the short ends behind the goals the North and South Stand are single tier. The South Stand has a small hospitality area with a balcony overhanging the seating while the North Stand has a control centre and offices contained within. On the exterior of the North Stand there is the large club shop and ticket offices.

The largest stand in the ground is the West Stand which has three tiers. The middle tier is thinner than the other two and also extends out into the north-west and south-west quadrants. There are corporate boxes placed at the top of the lower and middle tiers and the fans 1901 Club is also included. As the largest stand a number of offices and meeting rooms are housed within. Opposite this is the East Stand which was a single tier stand when Falmer Stadium opened but a second tier was soon added. The south-east corner is where away fans are positioned with the hill directly behind this corner of the ground being the designated area for coach parking.

This was a League Cup 1st Round tie between Football League Championship side Brighton & Hove Albion and Football League Two side Colchester United. The first half was a cagey affair - Colchester had come with a tightly packed defence and frustrated the home side to a handful of half chances. The visitors had a couple of counter attacking moments with Sammie Szmodics going closest with a header from six yards. Colchester's resistance was broken in the 64th minute when Kazenga Lua Lua went down the left wing and squared for Sam Baldock on the edge of the area. Baldock had time to readjust and curl an effort into the top of the net. Once the first goal went in that was the end of the challenge from the visiting side as the hosts added two more in quick succession. The second goal was scored in the 70th minute when Lua Lua again ran at the U's defence before slipping in Jamie Murphy who ghosted behind the back line and chipped the ball over Dillon Barnes. In the 74th minute Colchester were undone down the left wing again as Baldock had time to pick out Elvis Manu in the area with Manu sliding low into the goal. The Championship team rounded off the night with a fourth in the 86th minute as Jamie Murphy ran through three defenders on his way to steering the ball into the bottom corner. Though the League Two side had put up a decent performance for the first hour the capitulation in the final third saw Brighton record a comfortable 4-0 victory.

Result: Brighton & Hove Albion 4-0 Colchester United
Competition: Football League Cup
Attendance: 6,895

Ground #141 - The Hawthorns

Date: 4th January 2014
Ground: The Hawthorns
Location: West Bromwich, West Midlands

My first new ground of 2014 was on Saturday 4th January at The Hawthorns in West Bromwich, West Midlands. The match was West Bromwich Albion vs. Crystal Palace in the F.A. Cup 3rd Round.

The Hawthorns is nestled in the Middlemore industrial estate around 1.5 miles east of the centre of West Bromwich and 4 miles west of the centre of Birmingham. The closest railway station is The Hawthorns which is just 500 yards from the stadium with the more frequently served Smethwick Galton Bridge railway station just over a mile away. The ground has been home to the club since 1900 when they vacated their Stoney Lane home in the centre of the town to move to The Hawthorns.

Much of the ground has been extensively renovated over the last 20 years with three of the four stands being rebuilt in that time. The West Stand is the only one which has not been extensively renovated and it is the smallest in the venue. It has a capacity of 4,725 with a row of executive boxes placed behind the main seating. With the low capacity and somewhat cramped facilities inside the club have plans to replace it with a new 10,000 seat stand though movement on the project is currently on hold.

Directly opposite this is the East Stand which re-opened in 2000 with a capacity of 8,791. This stand also joins up with the Birmingham Road End at the northern end of the ground with additional seating in Woodman Corner. The Birmingham Road End was converted from terracing in 1994 and including Woodman Corner has 8,286 seats. The remaining Smethwick End is located behind the goal at the southern end of the ground. Able to house 5,200 supporters this stand is segregated into two with the away fans taking the eastern side and the most vocal home supporters taking the western side.

This all Premier League tie started off pretty slowly with just one shot on target in the opening 20 minutes as Julian Speroni saved Matej Vydra's effort. In the 22nd minute the hosts gave away a sloppy goal after a defensive error. Goran Popov's risky pass at the back went straight to Hiram Boateng who passed to Dwight Gayle who was able to turn and shoot from the edge of the box. His effort wrong-footed Ben Foster and ended up in the bottom corner of the net. West Brom sought to get back on level terms and almost did so when Craig Dawson's header hit the crossbar. The hosts continued to press after the break and with Palace sitting deep West Brom had ample opportunity to craft some decent chances. They became increasingly frustrated and made attacking substitutions to try and get an equaliser. The visitors seemed happy to play counter-attacking football and deep into stoppage time Yannick Bolasie made his way through what was left of the home defence and laid the ball off to Marouane Chamack who tucked into the net. This was the final kick of the game and confirmed Palace's spot in Round 4.

Result: West Bromwich Albion 0-2 Crystal Palace
Competition: F.A. Cup
Attendance: 12,700

Ground #131 - Pirelli Stadium

Date: 7th September 2013
Ground: Pirelli Stadium
Location: Burton-upon-Trent, Staffordshire

My twentieth new ground of 2013 was on Saturday 7th September at the Pirelli Stadium in Burton-upon-Trent, Staffordshire. The match was Burton Albion vs. Oxford United in Football League Two.

The Pirelli Stadium is in the north-east part of the town and sits next to the a Pirelli factory. The ground was built on the site of the company's former sports and social club with the land donated to the club in exchange for the stadium naming rights. The venue sits 1.3 miles from Burton-on-Trent railway station and has been home to Burton Albion since 2005 when they left their former home of Eton Park.

The Main Stand runs alongside the pitch on the southern section of the venue. This contains the reception, ticket offices, club shop and player dressing rooms. The stand is an all-seater structure with a capacity of 2,034 with the hospitality areas located behind the main seating. A section of around 400 seats at the eastern end of the structure is given over to away fans.

The rest of the ground is taken up with covered terracing. Opposite the Main Stand is the Popular Side which includes a bar facing out towards the car park. The areas behind the two goals are also taken up with terracing - the home fans take up the West Terrace with the East Terrace holding away fans. The combined capacity of the terraced stands is just under 5,000 giving an overall stadium capacity of 6,912.

The game was fought out between two sides near the top of the League Two table though the football on display in the first half wasn't great. The ball seemed to spent most of the first 45 minutes in the air and there were not many meaningful attacks. The first real action came in the 36th minute when Burton's Ian Sharps clashed with Oxford's Dave Kitson in an off-the-ball incident. Sharps received a straight red card meaning Burton had to play the majority of the game with only 10 men. Just after this the home side managed their best move of the game as Damien McCrory saw his close-range effort saved by Ryan Clarke in the Oxford goal. The disadvantage of being a man down caught up with the hosts in the second period as Oxford controlled the game. In the 49th minute they took the lead - Alfie Potter rode several Burton challenges before striking the ball past Dean Lyness. It was a well taken goal by Potter though the home defence should really have stopped him getting into a scoring position. Tom Newey almost doubled the lead a couple of minutes later when his rasping long-range drive brought a great save from Lyness. From this point on Oxford always looked likely to bag a second goal though it took until the 85th minute for it to come. Ryan Williams beat the Burton defence down the wing and his cross into the box caused a mix-up between Lyness and Rory Delap allowing Danny Rose to nod in the second goal to wrap up the victory.

Result: Burton Albion 0-2 Oxford United
Division: Football League Two
Attendance: 3,416