Favourite quirks of Scottish stadiums.

[Broughty]

4 hours ago, topcat(The most tip top) said:

The symmetry and big blocks of different coloured seating made those comparisons easier than they should have been

But it was about a quarter of the size so it was answering very different questions

 

The seats should have been all blue.

[Theyellowbox]

1 hour ago, Salvo Montalbano said:

Always liked McDiarmid, especially when we took a big support and got the wing of the Main Stand as well as the end behind the goals. Going into the stand from street level but being in a raised position (as you do in the end stands at East End) is good and should allow for good disabled access although I think it's the case that disabled away fans don't get that anymore? The only bad bits of design at that time I thought were having the food kiosks and toilets at the end down stairwells, and that the corners were a bit too open meaning the atmosphere could escape. And the car park obviously, not that we ever used it.

It still stands up as a decent venue though and better than some of the other out of town all seaters.

Still have the same disabled access. Even a service where folk will go and get pies etc.

The food kiosk being down the stairs in that away bit in the main stand is an addition. Originally there was a pie stall where the turnstiles are, but it was converted to hospitality and the empty space below the stand had the stairs added and made into a pie stall. The mirror if this at the other end is a combination of the muirton suite and the little referenced small indoor astro court/pitch, which is used by kids pre game.

Although it might not feel like it, there is a lot of room under the main stand at McDiarmid. There is a load of changing rooms (either 4 or 6, can't mind) in there for the all weather pitch, that if the demand merited it, could be turned into additional hospitality or such like. 

[tamthebam]

McDiarmid was referred to as "Airfix Ibrox" in the Meadowbank fanzine "AWOL". I'm sure the Absolute Game also said "One day all stadiums will look like this"... 

[Eder]

10 hours ago, Swello said:

A lot of old grounds were deeply flawed, mainly for folk that weren't Main Stand punters. Can anyone seriously argue that Tynecastle at the end of the 80's for example was even on the same planet as the one in place now? It was a dilapidated shitehole where away supporters had to stand in the rain while pish overflowed down the stairs from the toilets.

Where I took issue (and still do) with Taylor was that it was a sweeping act that had very little context to it - and the governing bodies at the time made it worse. Was there any significant safety issue at old East End, Old Love Street or Old Rugby Park that required them to be totally remodelled? No. Many of the changes could/should have been applied only to very large stadiums like Hampden and Celtic Park, or to stadiums that had specific safety issues (dodgy stairwells, etc)

What Taylor did do was to drag those clubs who were seemingly happy to have punters housed in Victorian conditions to modernise and it's hard to argue that what's in place today isn't better for a lot of people (I'd assume that if a proper poll was done, there would be very little appetite for a return to widespread terracing (as opposed to specific Safe Standing areas for singing sections).

This is the reality of the old grounds - they were barely fit for purpose.

Unfortunately a few clubs inparticular Hearts have a stadium now, far too small for the size of the club.

[PauloPerth]

3 hours ago, Salvo Montalbano said:

Always liked McDiarmid, especially when we took a big support and got the wing of the Main Stand as well as the end behind the goals. Going into the stand from street level but being in a raised position (as you do in the end stands at East End) is good and should allow for good disabled access although I think it's the case that disabled away fans don't get that anymore? The only bad bits of design at that time I thought were having the food kiosks and toilets at the end down stairwells, and that the corners were a bit too open meaning the atmosphere could escape. And the car park obviously, not that we ever used it.

It still stands up as a decent venue though and better than some of the other out of town all seaters.

I think that’s one area McDiarmid misses out on being the first of the new grounds. Compared to Muirton and grounds of the time, one catering area per side of the ground and a couple of toilet blocks per side were a big improvement.

Unfortunately nowadays both are inadequate, and we also miss out on a decent supporters bar, areas to congregate pre-match and H, a decent club shop etc.

As mentioned higher up, the main stand staircase down to underneath the stand at the away end was an add on as the Main Stand was probably intended mostly for home fans so the one at the other end was to cater for the whole stand. I had heard previously that McDiarmid has amongst the best disabled provision at any ground in the country, both in terms of numbers and quality of view.

[HibeeJibee]

20 hours ago, Swello said:

I always assumed that McDiarmid followed the Ibrox template (before the corners were filled in obviously).

 

20 hours ago, Monkey Tennis said:

Is that just because of the stripes of coloured seats?

 

20 hours ago, topcat(The most tip top) said:

The symmetry and big blocks of different coloured seating made those comparisons easier than they should have been

As got mentioned in I think the 'Photographic History' thread a few months ago... the coloured block pattern was a brief 'fad' - thinking it would help people find their seats - in early days of all-seaters/conversions e.g.

Edited August 18, 2023 by HibeeJibee

[topcat(The most tip top)]

5 minutes ago, HibeeJibee said:

As got mentioned in I think the 'Photographic History' thread a few months ago... the coloured block pattern was a brief 'fad' - thinking it would help people find their seats - in early days of all-seaters.

At Tynecastle they could do it by price band

 

[HibeeJibee]

[Monkey Tennis]

7 hours ago, HibeeJibee said:

You can see the logic of it.

I wonder if this fad occupied a brief window when grounds were all seated, but the bulk of fans didn't yet buy season tickets.

[HibeeJibee]

On 31/08/2016 at 23:21, The Mantis said:

Gala tonight. Rab B Nesbit obscured by the guy in blue with the belly 

 

On 18/09/2016 at 10:53, jagfox said:

Gala Fairydean

[RawB93]

On 17/08/2023 at 15:59, Theyellowbox said:

For anyone wanting a nostalgia trip, there is some old seats from the Muirton main stand inside the reception at McDiarmid. Other bits are stored in the archives, which is currently being curated. 

I thought I remembered reading on here that there was an old turnstile still outside the doors to ASDA, but when I was there I couldn't see anything.

[Theyellowbox]

3 hours ago, RawB93 said:

I thought I remembered reading on here that there was an old turnstile still outside the doors to ASDA, but when I was there I couldn't see anything.

No, I think you are thinking of Falkirk. I think there is a turnstyle from brockville at the Morisons thst is there now. 

Edited September 18, 2023 by Theyellowbox

[RawB93]

5 minutes ago, Theyellowbox said:

No, I think you are thinking of Falkirk. I think there is a turnstyle from brokville at the Morisons thst is there now. 

Right you are! Had it in my mind it was ASDA Muirton for some reason.

Edited September 18, 2023 by RawB93

[realmadrid]

18 hours ago, RawB93 said:

I thought I remembered reading on here that there was an old turnstile still outside the doors to ASDA, but when I was there I couldn't see anything.

That's something the club should look at, as I dont think there is anything that notes that was a former football ground at that site.

[tamthebam]

On 19/09/2023 at 12:49, realmadrid said:

That's something the club should look at, as I dont think there is anything that notes that was a former football ground at that site.

A bronze statue of Wullie Broon elbowing someone should do it

[Flybhoy]

The old main stand at Hampden in the late 1980's. 

[RandomGuy.]

On 17/08/2023 at 14:30, Swello said:

I always assumed that McDiarmid followed the Ibrox template (before the corners were filled in obviously).

Funnily enough the same person/company that designed McDiarmid also designed Celtic Park.

[Otis Blue]

On 17/08/2023 at 21:23, Eder said:

... Unfortunately a few clubs in particular Hearts have a stadium now, far too small for the size of the club.

^^^ This.

Still think it strange that when replacing the main stand at Tynie, the Jambos went down the road of a new stand (virtual replica of the Wheatfield) capacity that would barely increase the existing capacity, if at all.  Can only suppose the constraints must have been cost (for a two tier main stand) and of course Tynie's main constraint being that it is so tightly hemmed in by tenements, the school, etc.  You would think that Hearts should have been aiming for a capacity around the 25k mark to cope with bigger games whilst still maintaining the atmos. at smaller games.

[Eder]

13 hours ago, Otis Blue said:

^^^ This.

Still think it strange that when replacing the main stand at Tynie, the Jambos went down the road of a new stand (virtual replica of the Wheatfield) capacity that would barely increase the existing capacity, if at all.  Can only suppose the constraints must have been cost (for a two tier main stand) and of course Tynie's main constraint being that it is so tightly hemmed in by tenements, the school, etc.  You would think that Hearts should have been aiming for a capacity around the 25k mark to cope with bigger games whilst still maintaining the atmos. at smaller games.

I think it was cost but regardless it was shortsighted.  If Hearts do develop into a club challenging for cups and regularly in Europe they have no room for growth which is poor.  So yes should've been at least 25,000.

[Otis Blue]

10 hours ago, Eder said:

I think it was cost but regardless it was shortsighted.  If Hearts do develop into a club challenging for cups and regularly in Europe they have no room for growth which is poor.  So yes should've been at least 25,000.

They couldn't really ignore the cost constraint though, especially after the financial turbulence (madness) of the Lithuanian era.  Servicing the debt that would have been necessary for a big main stand probably wasn't realistic under the new ownership model for the club.  Some of the Jambos on here will know the detail.