Firs 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 ...

stadium in

Falkirk Falkirk ( gd, An Eaglais Bhreac, sco, Fawkirk) is a large town in the Central Lowlands of Scotland, historically within the county of Stirlingshire. It lies in the Forth Valley, northwest of Edinburgh and northeast of Glasgow. Falkirk had a ...

, Scotland, which was the home of

East Stirlingshire F.C. East Stirlingshire Football Club is a Scotland, Scottish association football club based in the town of Falkirk. The club was founded in 1881 and competes in the , in the fifth tier of the Scottish football league system. The club's origins ca ...

between 1921 and 2008. It was located on Firs Street, 0.3 miles north-east of the town centre. At the time of closing the ground had a capacity of 1,800 with 200 seated.

History

Early years

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''.Club History - 1880-1900
,

Retrieved 6 January 2013. 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. By the time the club was admitted to 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 ...

in 1900, the club was playing some home games at

Merchiston Park Merchiston Park () was a football ground in Bainsford, near Falkirk, which was the home of East Stirlingshire F.C. between and 1920. It was near Main Street, just north of the Forth and Clyde Canal at Bainsford Bridge. History Early years Ea ...

Bainsford Bainsford is a small village within the Falkirk (council area), Falkirk council area of Scotland. The village is situated in the Forth Valley, north of the town of Falkirk. It is positioned between the River Carron (Forth), River Carron and the ...

and from 1907 onwards it became permanent.Club History - 1900-1940
,

Retrieved 10 June 2011. The club's first ever league game at Merchiston Park was a 3–2 defeat to

Airdrieonians Airdrieonians Football Club is a Scottish professional football team in Airdrie, North Lanarkshire, who are members of the Scottish Professional Football League (SPFL) and play in Scottish League One. They were formed in 2002 as Airdrie United ...

in August 1900 in front of a crowd of 2,500.Results for East Stirlingshire for 1900-01
''londonhearts.com''. Retrieved 6 January 2013. In 1920, the club was forced to move from Bainsford when a railway line was built across Merchiston Park. The club set about looking for a new site to play its home games and a derelict factory site on Firs Street in

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. The first ever opposition at Firs Park was

Heart of Midlothian F.C. Heart of Midlothian Football Club, commonly known as Hearts, is a professional football club in Edinburgh, Scotland. The team competes in the Scottish Professional Football League. Hearts, the oldest and most successful football club in the S ...

Shortly after opening, the club's record attendance was set on 21 February 1921 in a

Scottish Cup The Scottish Football Association Challenge Cup,Partick Thistle F.C. Partick Thistle Football Club are a professional football club from Glasgow, Scotland. Despite their name, the club are based at Firhill Stadium in the Maryhill area of the city, and have not played in Partick since 1908. The club have been mem ...

, when 12,000 people watched the match.East Stirlingshire F.C. , Ochilview Park , Football Ground Guide
''scottishgrounds.co.uk''. Retrieved 29 June 2011. 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

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 ...

tie with

Greenock Morton F.C. Greenock Morton Football Club is a Scottish Professional sports, professional Association football, football Football team, club, which plays in the Scottish Championship. The club was founded as Morton Football Club in 1874, making it one of t ...

This was due to the small number of

turnstile A turnstile (also called a turnpike, gateline, baffle gate, automated gate, turn gate in some regions) is a form of gate which allows one person to pass at a time. A turnstile can be configured to enforce one-way human traffic. In addition, a t ...

s and there only being one main exit gate.

Merger with Clydebank Juniors F.C.

In 1964, the board of directors at the club controversially merged East Stirlingshire and junior club

Clydebank Juniors F.C. Clydebank Juniors F.C. was a Scottish Junior Football Association, Junior Football club based in the Scottish town of Clydebank. Formed in 1899 as Duntocher F.C., in the neighbouring village of Duntocher, they played their home games at Kilbowie ...

to create ''East Stirlingshire Clydebank''.Club History - 1940-1970
,

Retrieved 6 January 2013. As a result, the new club relocated to

Kilbowie Park Kilbowie Park, also known as New Kilbowie Park, was a football stadium in Clydebank, Scotland. It was the home ground of Clydebank. New Kilbowie was built for Clydebank Juniors in 1939. In 1964, Clydebank merged with East Stirlingshire and ente ...

Clydebank Clydebank ( gd, Bruach Chluaidh) is a town in West Dunbartonshire, Scotland. Situated on the north bank of the River Clyde, it borders the village of Old Kilpatrick (with Bowling, West Dunbartonshire, Bowling and Milton, West Dunbartonshire, Mil ...

and Firs Park was closed. 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. In the meantime, however, the merged club had taken the enclosure roof and floodlights from Firs Park. Apart from replacing the roof and floodlights, there were few changes to Firs Park until it closed. The Main Stand was replaced in 1992, with the club opting for a near replica of the previous stand. At closure, the stadium had a seating capacity of 200 with room for a further 1,600 standees.Firs Park - Football Ground Map
''footballgroundmap.com''. Retrieved 10 June 2011

Final match and closure

Due to the prohibitive costs of improving facilities to meet regulations set by 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 ...

,Shire explain Firs Park Departure

BBC Sport BBC Sport is the sports division of the BBC, providing national sports coverage for BBC television, radio and online. The BBC holds the television and radio UK broadcasting rights to several sports, broadcasting the sport live or alongside flag ...

. 30 April 2008. Retrieved 11 June 2011. the club decided to leave Firs Park at the end of the 2007–08 season. The last league game to be played at Firs Park was a 3–1 victory for the Shire against

Montrose F.C. Montrose Football Club is a Scotland, Scottish Semi-professional sports, semi-professional Association football, football team, based in the town of Montrose, Angus, Montrose, Angus, Scotland, Angus. The club was founded in 1879. They are memb ...

, which meant the club avoided finishing bottom of the

for a sixth consecutive season.McInally looks forward for Shire

. 29 April 2008. Retrieved 7 November 2011. 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 1–3., St Johnstone F.C.
18 July 2008. Retrieved 6 December 2013.

Relocation

The club groundshared with neighbours Stenhousemuir F.C.">Stenhousemuir Stenhousemuir (; gd, Featha Thaigh nan Clach) is a town in the Central Lowlands of Scotland. It lies within the Falkirk (council area), Falkirk council area of Scotland. The town is north-northwest of Falkirk and directly adjoins to Larbert in ...

History

Early years

Merger with Clydebank Juniors F.C.

Final match and closure

Relocation

Greyhound racing

See also

References

External links