Barrowfield

Barrowfield is a neighbourhood of Glasgow, Scotland, close to Celtic Park, home of Celtic F.C., which lies immediately to the east. It is bounded by the A89 road (Gallowgate) to the north and the A74 (London Road) to the south.

History

Being an area of working class housing enclosed by main roads and railway lines, Barrowfield consequently developed a distinctive character. The original 1930s council housing scheme flats (built to accommodate those cleared from Glasgow's 19th century slums in nearby areas such as Camlachie) became increasingly hard to let and were demolished in the 2000s to make way for more appealing houses. A small section of the original tenements remain around the junction of Law Street and Overtown Street, though extensively refurbished.

In the 1950s the area changed from a working-class neighbourhood like most other areas of the city to being a place renowned for its gangs, namely "The Torch" and "The Spur" whose territory was respectively located at the north and south ends of the main thoroughfare; Each terrorised the other's patch, and the area was so violent that the fighting diminished in the 1980s only because the gang leaders realised that dealing in drugs was more profitable. Unfortunately for the community, this meant the scheme had hundreds of drug abusers from all over Glasgow coming to the area to buy their "gear". Barrowfield therefore has a high mortality rate amongst the youth, largely due to drug abuse and suicide. In the early 21st century the area underwent a massive revamp, but the drug problem persists and crime is still high. In 2009, the data zone covering the neighbourhood was classed as the most deprived in Scotland.

Footballer James McArthur and actor Paul Brannigan grew up in Barrowfield in the 1990s.

Sport

A historic football stadium, Barrowfield Park, was the home ground of Clyde F.C. between 1877 and 1898 prior to their move to Shawfield Stadium, and also hosted matches for Eastern F.C. and Albatross. However the ground was actually in the city's Dalmarnock neighbourhood, taking its name from the historic Barrowfield rural estate which once occupied much of the surrounding area.

For many years, Celtic F.C. conducted most of their training routines at a facility to the east of Celtic Park named Barrowfield, but it is also not within the boundaries of the present-day Barrowfield residential area west of the stadium. The source of this double naming stems from Junior club Bridgeton Waverley, who played at a ground named 'Barrowfield', also named after the historic estate and located approximately at Mountainblue Street today, until the 1930s when that land was bought over for construction of the new housing scheme (the Nelson Recreation Ground a few blocks away was also demolished). Waverley moved about east to the other site, part of Westthorn Park, and named their new ground 'New Barrowfield'. Celtic later took control of it as their training ground in the early 1960s and the Barrowfield name became familiar to many football fans as a result, however it may be assumed the training ground is the same place as the housing scheme, which is not technically correct. Today there are still football pitches on the land which are owned and used by the club.

After the 2014 Commonwealth Games was held in Glasgow, Barrowfield has international-class sporting facilities within walking distance: the Commonwealth Arena and Sir Chris Hoy Velodrome are in nearby Dalmarnock. The ''Crownpoint Sports Complex'', a modern outdoor athletics track, is also nearby adjacent to St Mungo's Academy.

References

{{Authority control

Areas of Glasgow
Parkhead
Bridgeton–Calton–Dalmarnock