Almondvale Stadium, also known as the Tony Macaroni Arena for sponsorship purposes, but most commonly referred to as ‘The Spaghettihad’ (alluding to the
Etihad Stadium
The City of Manchester Stadium in Manchester, England, also known as the Etihad Stadium for sponsorship reasons, is the home of Premier League club Manchester City F.C., with a domestic football capacity of 53,400, making it the 6th-largest ...
), is a
football
Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...
stadium, located in the Almondvale area of
Livingston, West Lothian
Livingston ( sco, Leivinstoun, gd, Baile Dhunlèibhe) is the largest town in West Lothian, Scotland. Designated in 1962, it is the fourth post-war new town to be built in Scotland. Taking its name from a village of the same name incorporated ...
, Scotland. It has been the home ground of
Scottish Premiership
The Scottish Premiership, known as the cinch Premiership for sponsorship reasons, is the top division of the Scottish Professional Football League (SPFL), the league competition for men's professional football clubs in Scotland. The Scottish ...
club
Livingston
Livingston may refer to:
Businesses
* Livingston Energy Flight, an Italian airline (2003–2010)
* Livingston Compagnia Aerea, an Italian airline (2011–2014), also known as Livingston Airline
* Livingston International, a North American custom ...
since 1995, and has an all-seater capacity of 9,512.
History
The stadium was constructed in 1995 as a joint venture between
Edinburgh
Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...
football club Meadowbank Thistle F.C. and the Livingston Development Corporation (LDC). Part of the deal involved the relocation of Meadowbank Thistle to the town and a name change to Livingston. When the LDC was wound up, ownership of the Stadium was transferred to
West Lothian Council
West Lothian Council is the local authority for the council area of West Lothian in Scotland.
History
West Lothian District Council was created in 1975 as one of four districts within the Lothian region. The West Lothian district took its name f ...
. It is hired by Livingston from West Lothian Council every year. Livingston initially rapidly moved up the divisions of Scottish football, and the stadium was expanded to meet
Scottish Premier League
The Scottish Premier League (SPL) was the top level league competition for professional football
Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football' ...
(SPL) standards in time for the club's promotion to the top flight in 2001. The record attendance for a Livingston match at Almondvale is 10,112 and was set during that first season in the SPL, for a match against
Rangers on 27 October 2001.
The stadium has changed names several times due to sponsorship deals. However, supporters of the club continue to call the stadium Almondvale or the 'Vale. It was previously officially titled the City Stadium in the early 2000s due to a sponsorship deal with the City group. It had also been called the West Lothian Courier Stadium before that. However, after the club were taken over by the Lionheart Consortium in 2005, it reverted to its original name, Almondvale Stadium. It was renamed 'Braidwood Motor Company Stadium' in a three-year naming rights deal in May 2010. In June 2013, it was renamed again for sponsorship reasons to 'Energy Assets Arena'. In September 2015, it was renamed again for sponsorship reasons to its current name of '
Tony Macaroni
Tony Macaroni is a chain of restaurants in Scotland and Northern Ireland specialising in Italian cuisine. The slogan of the company is ''vive per mangiare'' ( "live to eat"). It is the sister company of Nardini's, an ice cream parlour in Largs, ...
Arena'.
On 7 April 2011, there were rumours that the stadium could be sold off to a supermarket development, and in turn finance a new stadium, of slightly smaller design, a mile away. However, nothing came of these rumours.
Structure and facilities
Almondvale is a 9,521 capacity all-seater ground. It has four stands which are all roughly of the same height and two corners of the ground are filled with covered seating. There is an open corner on one side of the West Stand and there is also the 5-storey stadium house in the other corner of the ground which is primarily used for conferences and offices. All the stands are one tier high and the stadium has four large floodlights situated at each corner of the ground. The stadium is covered and shielded from the weather elements by the roof and the windshields at the side of the stands. Almondvale also has a red blaze pitch and fully operational under-soil heating.
Women's football
In August 1997, Almondvale hosted the
Scotland
Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...
–
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
women's international match. In 2001, Almondvale was named the
Scottish Football Association
The Scottish Football Association (also known as the SFA and the Scottish FA; sco, Scots Fitba Association; Scottish Gaelic: ''Comann Ball-coise na h-Alba'') is the Sport governing body, governing body of association football, football in Scot ...
's centre for women's football.
It hosted the
Scottish Women's Cup
The Scottish Women's Cup is the national knockout cup competition for women's football in Scotland. First held in 1970–71, the competition is owned and managed by Scottish Women's Football (SWF), an affiliated body of the Scottish Football Assoc ...
final and the national team's matches from
2001 to 2004.
The stadium has become the home ground of
Hibernian W.F.C.
Hibernian Women's Football Club is a women's football team based in Edinburgh that plays in the Scottish Women's Premier League, the top division of women's football in Scotland. They were officially integrated as a department of Hibernian F.C ...
in
2021–22.
Other uses
In 2008,
Gretna played one match in the stadium, a 3–0 loss against
Celtic
Celtic, Celtics or Keltic may refer to:
Language and ethnicity
*pertaining to Celts, a collection of Indo-European peoples in Europe and Anatolia
**Celts (modern)
*Celtic languages
**Proto-Celtic language
* Celtic music
*Celtic nations
Sports Fo ...
, when their temporary home (
Fir Park
Fir Park Stadium is a football stadium situated in Motherwell, North Lanarkshire, Scotland. The stadium plays host to the home matches of Scottish Premiership club Motherwell and was the temporary home of Gretna for the 2007–08 SPL season. Mo ...
) had problems with its pitch.
In 2013,
Albion Rovers
Albion Rovers Football Club is a semi-professional football team from Coatbridge, North Lanarkshire, Scotland. They are members of the Scottish Professional Football League (SPFL) and play in Scottish League Two, the fourth tier of the Scotti ...
played their cup tie against Rangers at Almondvale in front of a crowd of 5,345.
Over the years it has also been chosen to host
Scotland under-21,
under-19 and
under-17 matches.
The stadium has hosted the
2012
File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gather ...
and the
2013
File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment fact ...
Challenge Cup
The Challenge Cup is a knockout rugby league cup competition organised by the Rugby Football League, held annually since 1896, with the exception of 1915–1919 and 1939–1940, due to World War I and World War II respectively. It involves am ...
finals. On 27 May 2012, the stadium hosted the
2012 Scottish Junior Cup Final.
Hibernian Reserves also used the Stadium.
Location and transport
![Almondvale Stadium - geograph](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/62/Almondvale_Stadium_-_geograph.org.uk_-_763179.jpg)
The town of
Livingston
Livingston may refer to:
Businesses
* Livingston Energy Flight, an Italian airline (2003–2010)
* Livingston Compagnia Aerea, an Italian airline (2011–2014), also known as Livingston Airline
* Livingston International, a North American custom ...
is situated in the
central belt
The Central Belt of Scotland is the area of highest population density within Scotland. Depending on the definition used, it has a population of between 2.4 and 4.2 million (the country's total was around 5.4 million in 2019), including Great ...
of
Scotland
Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...
, approximately 18 miles west of
Edinburgh
Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...
and 33 miles east of
Glasgow
Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...
, and easily accessible from the
M8 motorway.
The stadium is located at the centre of the town, in the Almondvale district, near the
shopping centre
A shopping center (American English) or shopping centre (Commonwealth English), also called a shopping complex, shopping arcade, shopping plaza or galleria, is a group of shops built together, sometimes under one roof.
The first known collec ...
and situated by the
River Almond. The ground is signposted reasonably well around the town for the convenience of road traffic. Parking spaces are abundantly found in close proximity to the stadium, either near the shopping centre or at the stadium.
There are two railway stations in reach of the ground;
Livingston North and
Livingston South. The North station is served by trains from Edinburgh and Glasgow and is about a 30-minute walk away from the ground. The South station also receives trains from both Edinburgh and Glasgow and is about a 40-minute walk away from the stadium.
In addition to the train stations, the central bus terminal at Livingston is located on Almondvale Avenue, 5 minutes walk from the ground.
References
External links
Almondvale StadiumScottish Football Ground Guide
{{Football venues in Scotland
Livingston F.C.
Football venues in Scotland
Sports venues in West Lothian
Scottish Premier League venues
Scottish Football League venues
Scottish Professional Football League venues
Sports venues completed in 1995
Livingston, West Lothian
Scottish Women's Premier League venues
Hibernian W.F.C.