Harmsworth Park 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 ...

ground in

Wick Wick most often refers to: * Capillary action ("wicking") ** Candle wick, the cord used in a candle or oil lamp ** Solder wick, a copper-braided wire used to desolder electronic contacts Wick or WICK may also refer to: Places and placenames ...

in the

Scottish Highlands The Highlands ( sco, the Hielands; gd, a’ Ghàidhealtachd , 'the place of the Gaels') is a historical region of Scotland. Culturally, the Highlands and the Lowlands diverged from the Late Middle Ages into the modern period, when Lowland Sco ...

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 ...

, which is the home ground of

Highland Football League The Scottish Highland Football League (SHFL, commonly known as the Highland League) is a senior football league based in the north of Scotland. The league sits at level 5 on the Scottish football league system The Scottish football league syst ...

side Wick Academy F.C. It is located on South Road in the south of the town and has a capacity of 2,412 with 102 seated.See Do – Harmsworth Park
, ''

VisitScotland.com VisitScotland, formerly the Scottish Tourist Board, is a national tourism organisation for Scotland. It is an executive non-departmental public body of the Scottish Government, with offices in Edinburgh, Glasgow, Aberdeen, Inverness, and other ...

''. Retrieved 26 May 2012.World Stadia – Harmsworth Park
''worldstadia.com''. 16 January 2006. Retrieved 27 May 2012. The ground is the home of the most northerly senior football club in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

History

The ground was previously known as Harrow ParkHistory of Wick Acacdemy Football Club
Wick Academy Football Club. Retrieved 26 May 2012.Academy made their mark with stunning triumph in cup debut
''

John O'Groat Journal North of Scotland Newspapers (NOSN) is the trade name under which Scottish Provincial Press publishes two weekly newspapers, the ''John O'Groat Journal'' and the ''Caithness Courier'', both serving the Caithness area in the Highland council area ...

''. 2 February 2012. Retirved 27 May 2012. before 1920. It was bought and given as a gift to the town of Wick by a businessman,

Leicester Harmsworth Sir Robert Leicester Harmsworth, 1st Baronet (1 November 187019 January 1937) was a British businessman and Liberal politician. Background Harmsworth was the fourth son of Alfred Harmsworth, a barrister, and Geraldine Mary, daughter of William ...

, as a recreation park.Harmsworth Park – Safety Issues

Highland Council The Highland Council (' ), the political body covering the Highland local authority created in 1995, comprises 21 wards, each electing three or four councillors by the single transferable vote system, which creates a form of proportional represe ...

. 27 November 2006. Retrieved 27 May 2012. Maintenance of the ground was primarily seen to by local football clubs who were responsible for building a perimeter wall. A

pavilion In architecture, ''pavilion'' has several meanings: * It may be a subsidiary building that is either positioned separately or as an attachment to a main building. Often it is associated with pleasure. In palaces and traditional mansions of Asia ...

was erected in 1925Opening of the Pavilion in Harmsworth Park
''Am Baile''. 1925. Retrieved 27 May 2012. and the changing rooms were saved from demolition in 1973 following the club's promise to keep it in a good state of repair. Wick Academy's record attendance at Harmsworth Park came in July 1984 when 2,400 spectators watched the club take on Heart of Midlothian 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 ...

in a friendly match. The home side lost 7–1. Ten years later the club was admitted to the Highland Football League, joining in 1994 after several rejected applications in previous years, following the departure of Caledonian,

Inverness Thistle Inverness Thistle Football Club was a football club playing in the city of Inverness in northern Scotland. Formation and timeline They were members of the Highland Football League, winning the championship eight times, including its inaugur ...

and Ross County football clubs to the Scottish Football League. The club's first game in the Highland League at Harmsworth Park was against Cove Rangers and drew a crowd of 1,700 spectators. At the end of the 2010-11 season Harmsworth Park was renovated in order to obtain an Entry Level National Club Licence in order to continue to compete in the Highland League and other competitions such as the

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

the ground fell short on three categories in order to obtain the licence, which were: a stadium certificate, floodlights and first aid facilities. With the aid of a

grant Grant or Grants may refer to: Places *Grant County (disambiguation) Australia * Grant, Queensland, a locality in the Barcaldine Region, Queensland, Australia United Kingdom *Castle Grant United States * Grant, Alabama *Grant, Inyo County, C ...

from the Scottish Football Partnership the club was therefore able to fulfil these criteria.Case Study – Wick Academy FC
The Scottish Football Partnership. Retrieved 27 May 2012. View of main stand at Wick FC's Harmsworth Park - geograph

View of main stand at Wick FC's Harmsworth Park - geograph

Structure and facilities

The ground has one seated stand and a covered enclosure,.Wick Academy – Harmsworth Park
, ''fanzine.co.uk''. Retrieved 27 May 2012. New black and white seats were added to the main stand, replacing the old blue seats which had come from

Ibrox Stadium Ibrox Stadium is a football stadium on the south side of the River Clyde in the Ibrox area of Glasgow, Scotland. The home of Rangers Football Club, Ibrox is the third largest football stadium in Scotland, with an all-seated capacity of . O ...

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 ...

when it was last renovated. The floodlights that came from

's Kingsmills ground were replaced to a higher standard during the ground's renovation in 2011, along with a new medical facility for first-aid treatment. During the SFA review the stands were also passed as structurally sound.

Transport

The nearest railway station to the ground is

Wick railway station , symbol_location = gb , symbol = rail , image = 158701 Wick.jpg , caption = 158701 standing at Wick , borough = Wick, Highland , country = Scotland , coordinates ...

non-league scotland – Wick Academy FC
''nonleaguescotland.co.uk''. Retrieved 27 May 2012. which is located half a mile north of Harmsworth Park, roughly a 10-minute walk. The station is located on the

Far North Line The Far North Line is a rural railway line entirely within the Highland area of Scotland, extending from Inverness to Thurso and Wick. As the name suggests, it is the northernmost railway in the United Kingdom. The line is entirely single-trac ...

which runs from

Inverness railway station , symbol_location = gb , symbol = rail , image = Inverness Station 2.jpg , caption = Inverness railway station , borough = Inverness, Highland , country = Scotland , coor ...

and terminates at Wick. On the south approach road to the town along the A99, Harmsworth Park is located on the right upon entering Wick.

References

External links

Harmsworth Park at footballgroundmap.comHarmsworth Park at soccerway.comWick Academy Official Website
{{Coord, 58, 25, 57, N, 3, 5, 34, W, region:GB_type:landmark, display=title Highland Football League venues Sports venues in Highland (council area) Wick Academy F.C. Wick, Caithness