Firs Park
| Firs Park | |
|---|---|
 Entrance to Firs Park |
|
 |
|
| Location | Firs Street, Falkirk |
| Coordinates | 56°00′18″N 3°46′44″W / 56.005°N 3.77889°W |
| Opened | 1921 |
| Closed | 2008 |
| Owner | East Stirlingshire |
| Surface | grass |
| Architect | Archibald Simpson |
| Capacity | 1,800 (200 seated) |
| Record attendance | 12,000 v Partick Thistle 21 February 1921 |
| Field dimensions | 112 x 72 yards |
| Tenants | |
| East Stirlingshire 1921–1964 and 1965–2008 |
|
Firs Park was a football stadium located on Firs Street, Falkirk, 0.3 miles north-east of the town centre. It was the home of East Stirlingshire F.C. from 1921 until the end of the 2007–08 Scottish football season.
[edit] History
East Stirlingshire was formed in 1880 and it played at Merchiston Park in Bainsford from 1907. The club was forced to move when a railway line was built across Merchiston Park.[1] Firs Park was opened in 1921[2] and would be the club's home for the next 87 years.[1] The first ever opposition at Firs Park was Hearts.[1] The record attendance at Firs Park was 12,000 on 21 February 1921 in a Scottish Cup 3rd Round tie against Partick Thistle.[3]
The board of directors merged East Stirlingshire and Clydebank to create East Stirlingshire Clydebank in 1964.[2] Firs Park was closed for a year as the team relocated to Kilbowie Park in Clydebank,[2][1] but the fans won a legal challenge against the move.[2][1] East Stirlingshire was reformed and the club returned to Firs Park in 1965.[2][1] In the meantime, however, the merged club had taken the Enclosure roof and the floodlights from Firs Park.[2]
Apart from replacing the roof and floodlights, there were few changes to Firs Park until it closed.[2] The Main Stand was replaced in 1992, with the club opting for a near replica of the previous stand.[2] At closure, the stadium had a seating capacity of 200 with room for a further 1,600 standees.[4] However, a crowd limit of 750 was set by police a Challenge Cup tie with Morton in September 2007. This was due to the small number of turnstiles and there only being one main exit gate.
Due to the prohibitive costs of improving facilities to meet regulations set by the Scottish Football Association,[5] the club decided to leave Firs Park at the end of the 2007–08 season. The last ever game to be played at Firs Park was a 3–1 victory for the Shire against Montrose, which meant the club avoided finishing bottom of the Scottish Football League for a sixth consecutive season.[6]
The club currently groundshare with neighbours Stenhousemuir at their Ochilview Park home. The move will be for a period of five years[5] during which Shire plan to develop a new venue in Falkirk.[5] While the Firs Park site is being sold off for development, in the short term it is intended that it will still be used as an administrative and training venue by the club.[5] Firs Park was subsequently demolished in January 2012.
[edit] References
- ^ a b c d e f East Stirlingshire History, East Stirlingshire F.C. Retrieved 2011-06-10.
- ^ a b c d e f g h Inglis 1996, p. 443
- ^ Scottish Football Ground Guide - East Stirlingshire, scottishgrounds.co.uk. Retrieved 2011-06-29.
- ^ Firs Park - Football Ground Map, footballgroundmap.com Retrieved 2011-06-10
- ^ a b c d "Shire explain Firs Park Departure". BBC Sport (BBC). 30 April 2008. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/e/east_stirlingshire/7376220.stm. Retrieved 11 June 2011.
- ^ "McInally looks forward for Shire". BBC Sport (BBC). 29 April 2008. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/e/east_stirlingshire/7374559.stm. Retrieved 7 November 2011.
- Sources
- Inglis, Simon (1996). Football Grounds of Britain. Collins Willow. ISBN 0002184265.
[edit] External links
- East Stirlingshire F.C. the official website of the club
|
||||||||
