Beechwood Park, initially known as Bank Park, was 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 ...

ground in the

Leith Leith (; gd, Lìte) is a port area in the north of the city of Edinburgh, Scotland, founded at the mouth of the Water of Leith. In 2021, it was ranked by '' Time Out'' as one of the top five neighbourhoods to live in the world. The earliest ...

area 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 ...

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 ...

. It was the home ground of

Leith Athletic Leith Athletic Football Club is a football club based in the Leith area of Edinburgh, Scotland. They compete in the East of Scotland Football League, Conference A. First team matches are played at Peffermill 3G. The present club considers itse ...

during their first seven seasons in the

Scottish Football League The Scottish Football League (SFL) was a league featuring professional and semi-professional football clubs mostly from Scotland.One club, Berwick Rangers, is based in the town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, which is located approximately 4 km south ...

(SFL).

History

Leith Athletic played at Bank Park when they joined the SFL in 1891. The first league match was played at the ground on 22 August 1891, with Leith beaten 3–2 by Renton; Renton's

Alex McColl Alexander Boyd McColl Red"(March 29, 1894 – February 6, 1991) was a Major League Baseball pitcher who played for the Washington Senators in and . McColl made his MLB debut at the age of 39, one of 8 pitchers in MLB history to debut at 39 or o ...

scored the first-ever

penalty kick A penalty shot or penalty kick is a play used in several sports whereby a goal is attempted during untimed play. Depending on the sport, when a player commits certain types of penalties, the opposition is awarded a penalty shot or kick attempt. ...

in SFL history during the game.Paul Smith & Shirley Smith (2005) ''The Ultimate Directory of English & Scottish Football League Grounds Second Edition 1888–2005'', Yore Publications, p151 The ground's record attendance was set later in the season when 7,000 saw Leith draw 3–3 with Dumbarton in a

Scottish Cup The Scottish Football Association Challenge Cup,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 ...

. In 1895 the ground was renamed Beechwood Park. Leith left in 1899, with the final league match played on 15 April 1899, a 3–3 draw with

Kilmarnock Kilmarnock (, sco, Kilmaurnock; gd, Cill Mheàrnaig (IPA: ʰʲɪʎˈveaːɾnəkʲ, "Marnock's church") is a large town and former burgh in East Ayrshire, Scotland and is the administrative centre of East Ayrshire, East Ayrshire Council. ...

. The club briefly groundshared with St Bernard's at

New Logie Green New Logie Green was a football ground in the Powderhall area of Edinburgh, Scotland. It was the home ground of St Bernard's from 1889 until 1899, and was also used to host the 1896 Scottish Cup final, the only time the Scottish Cup final has b ...

at the start of the 1899–1900 season, and played the remainder of their matches at Hawkhill. The following season they moved to Chancelot Park. After the club left Beechwood Park the

North British Railway The North British Railway was a British railway company, based in Edinburgh, Scotland. It was established in 1844, with the intention of linking with English railways at Berwick. The line opened in 1846, and from the outset the company followe ...

built the line into Leith Central across the site.

References

{{Authority control Defunct football venues in Scotland Leith Athletic F.C. Sports venues in Edinburgh Scottish Football League venues Buildings and structures in Leith Football venues in Edinburgh