Firs Park: Difference between revisions

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[[East Stirlingshire F.C.]] was formed in 1880 when a group of friends from a cricket team called ''Bainsford Blue Bonnets'' formed a football team under the name ''Britannia''.<ref name="History_1880-1900">[http://www.eaststirlingshirefc.com/the-club/club-history/1880-1900/ Club History - 1880-1900] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111006051514/http://www.eaststirlingshirefc.com/the-club/club-history/1880-1900/ |date=6 October 2011 }}, [[East Stirlingshire F.C.]]. Retrieved 6 January 2013.</ref> At the end of the club's first year of existence it found a home at Randyford Park in the east of Falkirk. At the time, the ground's previous tenant was a cricket team called ''East Stirlingshire Cricket Club'' and in 1881, Britannia also adopted the East Stirlingshire name, which stands to this day.<ref name="History_1880-1900" /> By the time the club was admitted to the [[Scottish Football League]] in 1900, the club was playing some home games at [[Merchiston Park]] in [[Bainsford]] and from 1907 onwards it became permanent.<ref name="History_1900-1940">[http://www.eaststirlingshirefc.com/the-club/club-history/1900-1940/ Club History - 1900-1940] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121231214847/http://www.eaststirlingshirefc.com/the-club/club-history/1900-1940/ |date=31 December 2012 }}, [[East Stirlingshire F.C.]]. Retrieved 10 June 2011.</ref> The club's first ever league game at Merchiston Park was a 3–2 defeat to [[Airdrieonians F.C. (1878)|Airdrieonians]] in August 1900 in front of a crowd of 2,500.<ref name="History_1900-1940" /><ref name="London_Hearts_1900">[http://www.londonhearts.com/scores/a1900/eaststirlingshire1901.htm Results for East Stirlingshire for 1900-01], ''londonhearts.com''. Retrieved 6 January 2013.</ref>

In 1920, the club was forced to move from Bainsford when a railway line was built across Merchiston Park.<ref name="History_1900-1940" /> The club set about looking for a new site to play its home games and a derelict factory site on Firs Street in [[Falkirk]] was chosen. The site was named ''Firs Park'' after the street in which it was located and was officially opened in 1921 and would be the club's home for the next 87 years.<ref name="History_1900-1940" /><ref name = "inglis 443">{{harvnb|Inglis|1996|p=443}}</ref> The first ever opposition at Firs Park was [[Heart of Midlothian F.C.]].<ref name="History_1900-1940" />

Shortly after opening, the club's [[Scottish football attendance records|record attendance]] was set on 21 February 1921 in a [[Scottish Cup]] third round tie against eventual champions [[Partick Thistle F.C.]], when 12,000 people watched the match.<ref name="Attendance">[http://www.footballgroundguide.com/leagues/scottish-spl-premier-and-football-league-clubs/scottish-league-two/east-stirlingshire-fc.html?expand=all East Stirlingshire F.C. | Ochilview Park | Football Ground Guide], ''scottishgrounds.co.uk''. Retrieved 29 June 2011.</ref> This remained the record attendance for the club during its entire tenure at Firs Park as crowds became smaller due to crowd regulation. In 2007, a limit of 750 was set by police during a [[2007–08 Scottish Challenge Cup#Quarter-finals|Challenge Cup]] tie with [[Greenock Morton F.C.]]. This was due to the small number of [[turnstile]]s and there only being one main exit gate.

In 1964, the board of directors at the club controversially merged East Stirlingshire and junior club [[Clydebank Juniors F.C.]] to create ''East Stirlingshire Clydebank''.<ref name = "inglis 443"/><ref name="History_1940-1970">[http://www.eaststirlingshirefc.com/the-club/club-history/1940-1970/ Club History - 1940-1970] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130325012812/http://www.eaststirlingshirefc.com/the-club/club-history/1940-1970/ |date=25 March 2013 }}, [[East Stirlingshire F.C.]]. Retrieved 6 January 2013.</ref> As a result, the new club relocated to [[Kilbowie Park]] in [[Clydebank]] and Firs Park was closed.<ref name = "inglis 443"/><ref name="History_1940-1970" /> However, the fans won a legal challenge against the move and the club returned to Firs Park and E.S. Clydebank was disbanded. East Stirlingshire F.C. was reformed in 1965.<ref name = "inglis 443"/><ref name="History_1940-1970" /> In the meantime, however, the merged club had taken the enclosure roof and floodlights from Firs Park.<ref name = "inglis 443"/>

East Stirlingshire did subsequently play one last game at Firs Park, a "closed doors" pre-season friendly vs St Johnstone on Tuesday 15 July 2008, losing 1-31–3.<ref name="Last ever game">[http://www.perthstjohnstonefc.co.uk/newsitemsdetail.php?param=69 {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131211085334/http://www.perthstjohnstonefc.co.uk/newsitemsdetail.php?param=69 |date=11 December 2013 }}, [[St Johnstone F.C.]]. 18 July 2008. Retrieved 6 December 2013.</ref>

==See also==

* [[History of Scottish football#Stadium movesrelocations andin refurbishments|Scottish stadium movesfootball]]

*{{cite book| ref = harv | first = Simon | last = Inglis | title = Football Grounds of Britain | year = 1996 | publisher = Collins Willow | isbn = 0-00-218426-5 }}