Your Old Stadium

[jagfox]

Old pavillion at Ibrox Park. Stood until 1928 when the current Main Stand was put up. Leech had worked on Ibrox previously when he designed a large terrace with wooden planks on an iron framework. Sadly the collapse of a section led to the first Ibrox disaster on 1902. 25 people died and over 500 were injured whilst attending a Scotland v England match. Hampden, Ibrox and Parkhead all vyed for hosting Internationals and Cup semi-finals and finals as they could earn up to £1,000 in hosting fees.

Picture from ©1910 when Glasgow had the three biggest purpose built Football stadiums in the world.

[tamthebam]

Powderhall Stadium- used by Hibs, Hearts, Leith Athletic and Edinburgh City at various points in its history.

The Powderhall site actually has a long history- the Bauchope Brothers originally laid out the site as an athletics stadium (one of the Bauchopes was the model for the "Golden Boy" on top of New College, University of Edinburgh" apparently although given the Edinburgh weather "Golden Eunuch" is probably more appropriate") in the late 1860s.

There is an interesting book called "Powderhall and Pedestrianism" (1943) which details the history (it concentrates on athletics mainly) available in the National Library, Powderhall was sold to the Greyhound Racing Association in the 1920s and was used for greyhound racing and later speedway up until the mid 1990s. Powderhall was also a bit notorious for being flooded by the Water of Leith - in 1948 the stadium was flooded and some greyhounds were unfortunately drowned.

When Craigroyston FC of the East of Scotland League moved to St Mark's Park on the other side of the Water of Leith banking was built up around their pitch and I suspect this was made using rubble from Powderhall which was being cleared for housing at the time.

[Browni]

I would like to state on the record that this is a magnificent thread.

The Knowetop end, that is now the Davie Cooper stand. I can just about remember being able to look over it (from the Main Stand) and see the Ravenscraig works before the new stand was built.

Another of Fir Park.

The more I look at Rod's 1st picture the more I become convinced it is a photo of the south terracing rather than where the Davie Cooper stand is now.

The 2nd photo above would appear to confirm that as you can see the south end of the east terracing in both photos.

I do agree with Rob in one thing though, this is a terrific thread.

Edited January 27, 2014 by Browni

[Rod]

The more I look at Rod's 1st picture the more I become convinced it is a photo of the south terracing rather than where the Davie Cooper stand is now.

The 2nd photo above would appear to confirm that as you can see the south end of the east terracing in both photos.

I do agree with Rob in one thing though, this is a terrific thread.

I am very much mistaken! Well spotted sir.

Anorak

[Andy_K_97]

I love this thread. I'm collecting old photos for my football reminiscence group as the old guys that come to it absolutely love the old photos of the grounds - and so do I!

I was first taken to a game of football around 1995 at Rugby Park and so I was just too young to go to old Rugby Park. I don't even have any memories of going past Rugby Road to my friend's house when I was 2 or 3 and the ground was still in its old state, which surprises me as I have some fairly vivid memories from being that age. Mind you, what I do remember from then are normal things like playing in my back garden or going to my Gran and Papa's house and getting my Gran's excellent soup for lunch.

Anyway, here's some pictures that I hope haven't been included yet on the thread - apologies if they have, but it's always nice to see them anyway.

The opening of Rugby Park in 1899 - new boys to the first division Killie (in white) played Celtic (in the stripes) and after going behind, managed to come away with a draw.

1929 - against the odds, Killie reach the Scottish Cup Final after beating Celtic 1-0 in the semis. Killie beat Rangers 2-0 with goals from Jock Aitken and Jimmy Williamson and Bring the cup back to Ayrshire for the second time. Absolutely staggering that this game had 129,000 people at it.

1938 - a rare colourised photo of the team that reached the 1938 Scottish Cup Final. We lost to East Fife that day - the only time a club from outwith the top tier has beaten a top tier club in a SC Final. Gretna, Queen of the South and Ross County are the most recent clubs to try (albeit unsuccessfully) to emulate East Fife's achievement that day. The crowd at the final was 138,000 - astounding that a game like that which had neither OF side competing had such a big gate.

[HibeeJibee]

On the East Fife 1938 thing... when this is mentioned I always feel compelled to note that Queen's Park won the Scottish Cup in 1893, beating Celtic.

At this time Queen's Park weren't in the league at all, nevermind not in the top division.

[Jacksgranda]

I love this thread. I'm collecting old photos for my football reminiscence group as the old guys that come to it absolutely love the old photos of the grounds - and so do I!

I was first taken to a game of football around 1995 at Rugby Park and so I was just too young to go to old Rugby Park. I don't even have any memories of going past Rugby Road to my friend's house when I was 2 or 3 and the ground was still in its old state, which surprises me as I have some fairly vivid memories from being that age. Mind you, what I do remember from then are normal things like playing in my back garden or going to my Gran and Papa's house and getting my Gran's excellent soup for lunch.

Anyway, here's some pictures that I hope haven't been included yet on the thread - apologies if they have, but it's always nice to see them anyway.

The opening of Rugby Park in 1899 - new boys to the first division Killie (in white) played Celtic (in the stripes) and after going behind, managed to come away with a draw.

1929 - against the odds, Killie reach the Scottish Cup Final after beating Celtic 1-0 in the semis. Killie beat Rangers 2-0 with goals from Jock Aitken and Jimmy Williamson and Bring the cup back to Ayrshire for the second time. Absolutely staggering that this game had 129,000 people at it.

1938 - a rare colourised photo of the team that reached the 1938 Scottish Cup Final. We lost to East Fife that day - the only time a club from outwith the top tier has beaten a top tier club in a SC Final. Gretna, Queen of the South and Ross County are the most recent clubs to try (albeit unsuccessfully) to emulate East Fife's achievement that day. The crowd at the final was 138,000 - astounding that a game like that which had neither OF side competing had such a big gate.

Ah, but you were playing in blue and white hoops - brought out the Glasgow neutrals...

[Andy_K_97]

Some more:

1944, and with the war on the army commandeered Rugby Park and turned it into a munitions dump. It took a while after the war was over to get the playing surface back to being one of the best in the country.

1955 - with the pitch back to normal, things resume. The Dundonald Road end has yet to get its classic Johnnie Walker advert painted on top of it, but has been there since just before WWII started. Two years later the East Terrace would get a roof over it, and in 1961 the main stand (an Archibald Leitch structure) would be built over to form what is the current Frank Beattie Stand. It's similar to what Motherwell did with their own main stand - take the existing structure and expand it a bit. I'll find a photo of that if I get some time later on in the day.

[jagfox]

A rare visit to Hampden for Morton against Aberdeen in 1979 FA Cup semi-final. I don't think they've been back since in Cup duty?

[rambunctious]

East stand with optional roof seating. All there to see the Pride of Lanarkshire.

Brilliant thread and brilliant picture.

And look at those strips.

I nearly jizzed when we wore these in that Leeds friendly a few years ago

[HibeeJibee]

Two interesting panoramic shots, of Hampden and Wembley. Note the way in which the Wembley terrace was at one time divided into more defined pens.

[Andy_K_97]

Found some more Killie photos of a bygone era.

Here's one of Tommy McLean working his magic in the sixties. Don't have a date on this but looks like a proper colour photo as opposed to a b&w one that's subsequently been colourised.

1960 - here's what I was talking about earlier when I said our current main stand was essentially an extension of Archibald Leitch's structure (which I think dates from 1899, but I can't be sure for certain).

[HibeeJibee]

Parkhead then and now shot from roughly the same angle.

In the old photo, interesting to see how closer the right floodlights are to the pitch than the left.

[Andy_K_97]

Was there ever a dog track at Rugby Park?

Scotland had 30-40 dog tracks in the 30s just wondering how many on senior football grounds.

I know both Dundee clubs and Albion Rovers have had dog racing.

I don't think there was CB - I think we only used it as a running track for the players. It wasn't the right size for athletics events either - I've asked my Dad and he can't remember the ground being used for the dogs or the speedway. I think RP was bowl-shaped originally because the designers simply had the space to make it a large oval - we'd originally played at two other grounds called Rugby Park before the present one was opened, and these grounds were to the south of the ground and are probably occupied by houses and gardens now.

Found this photo from 1967 of the East Terrace during a match - I wish I had a time machine to take it in just once, the noise in those days when a goal was scored must have been quite something.

[cowdenbeath]

powderhall.jpg

Powderhall Stadium- used by Hibs, Hearts, Leith Athletic and Edinburgh City at various points in its history.

The Powderhall site actually has a long history- the Bauchope Brothers originally laid out the site as an athletics stadium (one of the Bauchopes was the model for the "Golden Boy" on top of New College, University of Edinburgh" apparently although given the Edinburgh weather "Golden Eunuch" is probably more appropriate") in the late 1860s.

There is an interesting book called "Powderhall and Pedestrianism" (1943) which details the history (it concentrates on athletics mainly) available in the National Library, Powderhall was sold to the Greyhound Racing Association in the 1920s and was used for greyhound racing and later speedway up until the mid 1990s. Powderhall was also a bit notorious for being flooded by the Water of Leith - in 1948 the stadium was flooded and some greyhounds were unfortunately drowned.

When Craigroyston FC of the East of Scotland League moved to St Mark's Park on the other side of the Water of Leith banking was built up around their pitch and I suspect this was made using rubble from Powderhall which was being cleared for housing at the time.

What's the pitch at the top of the picture Tam - is that the current St Marks Park?

Only ever went to the greyhounds at Powderhall with my granddad in the mid 70s, one time a dog got electrocuted when the trap fucked up I was only 10 at time and pretty shocked. It was an impressive venue and must have been even better in its heyday.

Passed the old site a few times going to games at St Marks.

[HibeeJibee]

What's the pitch at the top of the picture Tam - is that the current St Marks Park?

Only ever went to the greyhounds at Powderhall with my granddad in the mid 70s, one time a dog got electrocuted when the trap fucked up I was only 10 at time and pretty shocked. It was an impressive venue and must have been even better in its heyday.

Passed the old site a few times going to games at St Marks.

Sort of... St Mark's is on the lefthand half of that site - running at 90 degrees to the pitch shown in the old photograph.

It's before I was ever at the ground, but I believe the site was formerly a rubbish dump.

Once closed and regraded it first had 2 pitches, then 1 pitch and then it was redeveloped as St Mark's.

[Andy_K_97]

I wonder how many people know how close too the River Clyde CP is.

Cheers..It looked as if it could have had one. I know that dog racing was big in Ayrshire.

It maybe could have and just passed my Dad's memories by, I'll do a bit of looking into it. Might surprise myself!

Edited January 27, 2014 by Andy_K_97

[Squirrelhumper]

I don't think there was CB - I think we only used it as a running track for the players. It wasn't the right size for athletics events either - I've asked my Dad and he can't remember the ground being used for the dogs or the speedway. I think RP was bowl-shaped originally because the designers simply had the space to make it a large oval - we'd originally played at two other grounds called Rugby Park before the present one was opened, and these grounds were to the south of the ground and are probably occupied by houses and gardens now.

Found this photo from 1967 of the East Terrace during a match - I wish I had a time machine to take it in just once, the noise in those days when a goal was scored must have been quite something.

Sadly that crowd would have been a high percentage of away fans (ie Rangers)

Whilst our crowds were a lot better during 60s, the above picture would've been on the occasions Rangers and sometimes celtic trebled tge crowd from 10k to 30k.

Would still have loved to have been in a crowd that big at RP. 18, 000 was biggest I was part of in old stadium.

[cowdenbeath]

Sort of... St Mark's is on the lefthand half of that site - running at 90 degrees to the pitch shown in the old photograph.

It's before I was ever at the ground, but I believe the site was formerly a rubbish dump.

Once closed and regraded it first had 2 pitches, then 1 pitch and then it was redeveloped as St Mark's.

Cheers HJ I figured that St Marks must have either been that pitch or close to it.

[Ken Fitlike]

Ibrox. Probably an early creditors' meeting,