Meadowbank Stadium (officially the Meadowbank Sports Centre) is a multi-purpose sports facility located in the
Meadowbank 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. Built on the site of the earlier
New Meadowbank
New Meadowbank was an athletics and football ground in Edinburgh, Scotland. It was the home ground of Leith Athletic during the 1946–47 season. The site was later used to build the modern Meadowbank Stadium.
History
The ground was opened i ...
and
Old Meadowbank
Old Meadowbank was a multi-purpose sports facility located in the Meadowbank area of Edinburgh, Scotland. It was mainly used as a football stadium by Leith Athletic between the 1930s and 1950s and as a motorcycle speedway track. The stadium was ...
sports venues, it was originally built to host the
1970 Commonwealth Games. It also hosted the Games in
1986, becoming the first venue to host the Games twice. It is the current home of side
F.C. Edinburgh.
The stadium has also regularly hosted
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 ...
. It was the home ground of
Scottish Football League team
Meadowbank Thistle
Livingston Football Club is a Scottish professional football club based in Livingston, West Lothian.
Livingston currently play in the Scottish Premiership and were founded in 1943 as Ferranti Thistle, a works team. The club was admitted to the ...
between 1974 and 1995. From 1996, it hosted senior non-league football as the home ground of
Edinburgh City. League football returned to Meadowbank in 2016 following City's promotion to the
Scottish Professional Football League.
The Meadowbank complex also hosted
Leith Athletic, which played on the Meadowbank 3G artificial pitch adjacent to the main stadium since 2013. In the early months of 2019 the sports centre was demolished and work begun on construction of its replacement. In 2022, following the completion of construction, Edinburgh City (now named
F.C. Edinburgh) returned to Meadowbank.
Meadowbank Stadium was also used for
rugby union
Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In its m ...
as the home venue of
Edinburgh Rugby
Edinburgh Rugby (formerly Edinburgh Reivers, Edinburgh Gunners) is one of the two professional rugby union teams from Scotland. The club competes in the United Rugby Championship, along with the Glasgow Warriors, its oldest rival. Edinburgh pl ...
between 2002 and 2004.
Layout
The stadium has a single stand with a capacity of 500.
Before the stadium was closed for redevelopment work in 2017, the capacity of the stadium was 5,000.
Uses
Commonwealth Games
Meadowbank Stadium was built for the 1970 Commonwealth Games, at a cost of £2.8 million.
It was opened by
Prince Edward, Duke of Kent
Prince Edward, Duke of Kent, (Edward George Nicholas Paul Patrick; born 9 October 1935) is a member of the British royal family. Queen Elizabeth II and Edward were first cousins through their fathers, King George VI, and Prince George, Duke ...
on 2 May 1970.
The 1970 Games was one of the most successful in the history of the event.
The 1986 Commonwealth Games were also held at Meadowbank, which became the first venue to host the Commonwealth Games twice.
The 1986 Games suffered a financial deficit and were widely boycotted due to the support of the
British Government
ga, Rialtas a Shoilse gd, Riaghaltas a Mhòrachd
, image = HM Government logo.svg
, image_size = 220px
, image2 = Royal Coat of Arms of the United Kingdom (HM Government).svg
, image_size2 = 180px
, caption = Royal Arms
, date_es ...
for the
apartheid
Apartheid (, especially South African English: , ; , "aparthood") was a system of institutionalised racial segregation that existed in South Africa and South West Africa (now Namibia) from 1948 to the early 1990s. Apartheid was ...
regime in
South Africa
South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...
.
The stadium once had its own
railway station
Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a pre ...
which was built for the 1986 Commonwealth Games.
Football
Meadowbank Thistle played at the stadium from 1974.
It was often cited as one of the worst grounds used in the
Scottish Football League due to the lack of atmosphere, caused by the stadium having a capacity of 5,000 but Meadowbank typically attracting crowds of less than 1,000;
most fans were located on one side of the ground, while the running track created a great distance between the fans and the pitch. Meadowbank Thistle announced their intention to leave the stadium and relocate to the
new 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 ...
in 1995, when their lease expired.
Their last game as Meadowbank Thistle was played in May 1995, although they continued to play at Meadowbank Stadium as Livingston until their new
Almondvale Stadium
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), is a football stadium, located in the Almondvale area of Livingston, We ...
was ready in November of that year.
Edinburgh City moved into the stadium after Meadowbank left
– their first fixture there as an
SPFL
The Scottish Professional Football League (SPFL) is the national men's association football league in Scotland. The league was formed in June 2013 following a merger between the Scottish Premier League and the Scottish Football League. As we ...
club in July 2016 happened to be against Livingston in the
Scottish League Cup
The Scottish League Cup (also known as the Viaplay Cup for sponsorship reasons) is a football competition open to all Scottish Professional Football League (SPFL) clubs. First held in 1946–47, it is the oldest national League Cup in existen ...
[Livingston return to Meadowbank 'where it all began](_blank)
The Scotsman, 19 July 2016 – and they were joined there by Leith Athletic (from the East of Scotland League).
Hibernian have also played some of their
reserve team
In sports, a reserve team is a team composed of players under contract to a club but who do not normally play in matches for the first team. Reserve teams often include back-up players from the first team, young players who need playing time to i ...
matches at Meadowbank.
Edinburgh City (now renamed
F.C. Edinburgh) moved back into Meadowbank in July 2022 after it reopened, along with the
Hibernian women's team.
Music
![Meadowbank Stadium - Radiohead](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/eb/Meadowbank_Stadium_-_Radiohead.jpg)
Meadowbank was used as a 25,000 capacity concert venue during T on the Fringe, an annual music festival.
Muse
In ancient Greek religion and mythology, the Muses ( grc, Μοῦσαι, Moûsai, el, Μούσες, Múses) are the inspirational goddesses of literature, science, and the arts. They were considered the source of the knowledge embodied in the ...
,
My Chemical Romance
My Chemical Romance (commonly abbreviated to MCR or My Chem) is an American rock band from Newark, New Jersey. The band's current lineup consists of lead vocalist Gerard Way, lead guitarist Ray Toro, rhythm guitarist Frank Iero, and bassist Mi ...
,
Snow Patrol,
Radiohead
Radiohead are an English rock band formed in Abingdon, Oxfordshire, in 1985. The band consists of Thom Yorke (vocals, guitar, piano, keyboards); brothers Jonny Greenwood (lead guitar, keyboards, other instruments) and Colin Greenwood (bass) ...
,
Pixies
A pixie (also pisky, pixy, pixi, pizkie, and piskie in Cornwall and Devon, and pigsie or puggsy in the New Forest) is a mythical creature of British folklore. Pixies are considered to be particularly concentrated in the high moorland areas aro ...
,
Foo Fighters
Foo Fighters are an American rock band formed in Seattle in 1994. Foo Fighters was initially formed as a one-man project by former Nirvana drummer Dave Grohl. Following the success of the eponymous debut album, Grohl (lead vocals, guitar) re ...
,
Nine Inch Nails,
Kaiser Chiefs
Kaiser Chiefs are an English indie rock band from Leeds who formed in 2000 as Parva, releasing one studio album, ''22'', in 2003, before renaming and establishing themselves in their current name that same year. Since their formation the band h ...
and
Razorlight
Razorlight are an English indie rock band, formed in 2002 in London by lead singer and guitarist Johnny Borrell. Along with Borrell, the current line-up of the band is composed of founding members Björn Ågren on guitar and bassist Carl Delemo ...
all played the venue between 2005 and 2007. In 2008, T on the Fringe was renamed
The Edge Festival and the stadium was no longer used as one of the main venues.
In 1989,
Simple Minds played Meadowbank on their
Street Fighting Years Tour after switching from
Murrayfield
Murrayfield is an affluent area to the west of Edinburgh city centre in Scotland. It is to the east of Corstorphine and north of Balgreen and Roseburn. The A8 road runs east–west through the south of the area. Murrayfield is often con ...
. The switch was due to the band's passionate anti-
apartheid
Apartheid (, especially South African English: , ; , "aparthood") was a system of institutionalised racial segregation that existed in South Africa and South West Africa (now Namibia) from 1948 to the early 1990s. Apartheid was ...
beliefs clashing with the
Scottish Rugby Union
The Scottish Rugby Union (SRU; gd, Aonadh Rugbaidh na h-Alba) is the governing body of rugby union in Scotland. Styled as Scottish Rugby, it is the second oldest Rugby Union, having been founded in 1873. The SRU oversees the national league s ...
's decision to play in South Africa at the time.
Rifle
Meadowbank housed both a 10metre airgun range and a 50metre indoor range for smallbore rifle shooting in the 1970s and 1980s. The range was closed in 1990 but refurbished in 2014 ahead of the
2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow for use as a training venue by Scottish Target Shooting's High Performance Squad. The range remained in use until the site's closure in 2017. The new Meadowbank plans do not include facilities for target sports despite Edinburgh athlete
Seonaid McIntosh
Seonaid McIntosh (born 15 March 1996) is a British sports shooter who became the World Champion at the 2018 ISSF World Shooting Championships in the 50m Prone Rifle event. In 2019 she became Britain's most successful female rifle shooter of all t ...
having earned one of TeamGB's first quota places to the
2020 Summer Olympics
The , officially the and also known as , was an international multi-sport event held from 23 July to 8 August 2021 in Tokyo, Japan, with some preliminary events that began on 21 July.
Tokyo was selected as the host city during the ...
.
Basketball
Meadowbank stadium had basketball facilities in three of its large halls, but they were only rarely available to the public.
Edinburgh Rocks basketball team used one of the large halls until they moved to the
Braehead Arena
The Braehead Arena is a multi-purpose arena in Renfrewshire, Scotland. The arena was built in 1999, and is located within the Braehead Complex. The arena was formerly the home of the Scottish Eagles ice hockey club and is now the home to the ...
, and were renamed
Scottish Rocks
The Caledonia Gladiators are a professional basketball club in Glasgow, Scotland. The Gladiators compete in the British Basketball League, the top tier of British basketball. Since 2012, the team have played their home games at the Emirates Ar ...
.
Track cycling
![Meadowbank Stadium - geograph](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/cd/Meadowbank_Stadium_-_geograph.org.uk_-_418221.jpg)
Meadowbank velodrome was home to the East of Scotland regional track cycling academy. The 250-metre track made of African timber was built by Schuermann Architects of Germany for the 1986 Commonwealth Games.
It was the home track of
Chris Hoy and
Craig MacLean
Craig MacLean MBE (Grantown-on-Spey, July 31, 1971) is a Scottish track cyclist who has represented Great Britain and Northern Ireland at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney and the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, winning a silver medal in ...
. Proposals published in December 2013 suggested that the velodrome be sold off for housing to fund the redevelopment of the main stadium.
Usage of the track declined over the years – mainly due to the construction of the
Commonwealth Arena and Sir Chris Hoy Velodrome
The Commonwealth Arena and Sir Chris Hoy Velodrome, known for sponsorship reasons as the Emirates Arena, is an indoor arena and velodrome in Dalmarnock, Glasgow, Scotland. Built for the 2014 Commonwealth Games, these venues hosted the badminto ...
, which is a track of a much better standard. A local bicycle club, Edinburgh Road Club, continued to hosted some events on the old track
until it was finally closed on Saturday 2 September 2017
[Meadowbank Celebration as Velodrome Closes its Doors](_blank)
/ref>
Rugby
Professional rugby union
Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In its m ...
club Edinburgh Gunners
Edinburgh Rugby (formerly Edinburgh Reivers, Edinburgh Gunners) is one of the two professional rugby union teams from Scotland. The club competes in the United Rugby Championship, along with the Glasgow Warriors, its oldest rival. Edinburgh play ...
used the venue from 2002 until they moved to Murrayfield Stadium in 2004.
Boxing
The Meadowbank Stadium was used for many boxing events, Hall 1 was the location for fighters including Alex Arthur
Alex Arthur, (born 26 June 1978) is a Scottish former professional boxer and political candidate for the Alba Party. Competing from 2000 to 2012, he held the WBO and WBO interim super featherweight titles in 2007. At regional level, he he ...
, Ricky Burns Ricky may refer to:
Places
*Říčky (Brno-Country District), a village and municipality in the Czech Republic
*Říčky v Orlických horách, a village in the north of the Czech Republic
*Rickmansworth, a town in England sometimes called "Ricky"
...
etc. It was last used on 14 April 2012 when Arthur staged his self-promoted "Homecoming" fight event for the return of Craig McEwan to Edinburgh.
Taekwondo
The stadium was used in November 2014 to host the Commonwealth Taekwondo Championships.
Juggling
Meadowbank was the venue for the European Juggling Convention
The European Juggling Convention (EJC), is the largest juggling convention in the world, regularly attracting several thousand participants. It is held every year in a different European country. It is organised by changing local organisation commi ...
in 1998.
Redevelopment and renovation
In 2006 the City of Edinburgh Council published plans to demolish Meadowbank Stadium, selling the site for housing. Meadowbank would have been replaced with a smaller community facility on the east side of the city and a stadium for athletics and rugby was to be built to the west of the city, probably in Sighthill Sighthill may refer to:
* Sighthill, Edinburgh
Sighthill is a suburb in the west of Edinburgh, Scotland. The area is bordered by Broomhouse and Parkhead to the east, South Gyle to the north, the industrial suburb of Bankhead and the Calders ...
. The draft Meadowbank Development Brief was approved by the council on 7 December 2006 for consultation.[Council's Development Brief]
)
The Development Brief stated that "housing is the most appropriate alternative use of the site" and that "high density development is acceptable in principle". The consultation ran until 28 March 2007, after which the council leader Ewan Aitken admitted that the council should have consulted more with the users of Meadowbank. More than 6000 people signed a petition objecting to the proposal, while 600 marched from the stadium to the City Chambers, as part of a ''Save Meadowbank'' campaign. The proposal was cast into doubt due to problems with the Sighthill Stadium project, which was scrapped in 2007. On 13 March 2008, Edinburgh Council voted to sell the land that is occupied by Meadowbank stadium and build a smaller sports facility on east of the site. X-Factor
''The X Factor'' is a television music competition franchise created by British producer Simon Cowell and his company Syco Entertainment. It originated in the United Kingdom, where it was devised as a replacement for ''Pop Idol'' (2001–2003) ...
winner Leon Jackson
Leon Jackson (born 30 December 1988) is a Scottish singer. He won the fourth series of British talent show ''The X Factor'' in 2007. Following his win, Jackson was the main star of his on-web series entitled ''Leon's Life'', which ran from 20 ...
, who was campaigning to save Meadowbank, played at its annual fireworks
Fireworks are a class of Explosive, low explosive Pyrotechnics, pyrotechnic devices used for aesthetic and entertainment purposes. They are most commonly used in fireworks displays (also called a fireworks show or pyrotechnics), combining a l ...
display on 5 November 2008. The proposals to sell Meadowbank were put on hold in 2009, after a decline in Edinburgh land prices.
In February 2013, the City of Edinburgh Council started a new consultation process about its future. Three options for redeveloping Meadowbank were put forward for consideration by Edinburgh Council in December 2013. A planned design was made public in November 2016. Work was expected to begin after the 2016–17 football season ended. Edinburgh City reached an agreement with Spartans
Sparta ( Doric Greek: Σπάρτα, ''Spártā''; Attic Greek: Σπάρτη, ''Spártē'') was a prominent city-state in Laconia, in ancient Greece. In antiquity, the city-state was known as Lacedaemon (, ), while the name Sparta referr ...
to use their Ainslie Park ground for three seasons while Meadowbank was being redeveloped. A final annual fireworks display was held on 5 November 2017.
The stadium was closed for the redevelopment works in December 2017, and the new facilities were due to open in the spring of 2020. Planning applications for detailed approval for the new sports centre and in principle for development of the rest of the site were published in January 2018.
In July 2018, the Council approved detailed plans for the new Meadowbank Sports Centre and the redevelopment of land surrounding it for housing, student accommodation, hotel and commercial use. A council consultation opened on 20 August 2018 and closed on 31 October. Work began in 2019 and was completed by 2021, and Edinburgh City announced in March 2021 that they would return to Meadowbank for the 2021–22 football season.[ This did not happen due to ongoing works at Meadowbank, and Edinburgh City stayed at Ainslie Park for another year.]
Gallery
File:Concert at the Meadowbank Stadium - geograph.org.uk - 1641057.jpg, Concert at the Meadowbank Stadium - geograph.org.uk - 1641057
File:Meadowbank Stadium - geograph.org.uk - 418221.jpg, Meadowbank Stadium - geograph.org.uk - 418221
File:Meadowbank Stadium - Radiohead.jpg, Meadowbank Stadium - Radiohead
File:Meadowbank Stadium main stand.jpg, Meadowbank Stadium main stand
File:Meadowbank Stadium stand.jpg, Meadowbank Stadium stand
File:Meadowbank Stadium. - geograph.org.uk - 301834.jpg, Meadowbank Stadium. - geograph.org.uk - 301834
File:Meadowbank-5aside-215.jpg, Meadowbank-5aside-215
File:Meadowbank-basketball-215.jpg, Meadowbank-basketball-215
File:Meadowbank-track-215.jpg, Meadowbank-track-215
File:Meadowbank-track-and-field.jpg, Meadowbank-track-and-field
File:Velodrome-150.jpg, Velodrome-150
File:T-on-the fringe-300.jpg, T-on-the fringe-300
See also
*List of Commonwealth Games venues
The following are lists of all Commonwealth Games venues, starting with the first Commonwealth Games in 1930, alphabetically, by sport and by year.
As a multi-sport event, competitions held during a given the Commonwealth Games usually take p ...
References
;Sources
*
*
External links
Save Meadowbank Campaign, accessed 29 November 2018
{{Authority control
1970 British Commonwealth Games venues
1986 Commonwealth Games venues
Athletics (track and field) venues in Scotland
Basketball venues in Scotland
Football venues in Edinburgh
Hibernian F.C.
F.C. Edinburgh
Multi-purpose stadiums in the United Kingdom
Music venues in Edinburgh
Rugby union stadiums in Scotland
Sports venues in Edinburgh
Velodromes in Scotland
Cycle racing in Scotland
Sports venues completed in 1970
1970 establishments in Scotland
Livingston F.C.
Glasgow Rocks
Scottish Football League venues
Lowland Football League venues
Leith Athletic F.C.
Scottish Professional Football League venues
Hibernian W.F.C.