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
Bonnington
Bonnington is a dispersed village and civil parish on the northern edge of the Romney Marsh in Ashford District of Kent, England. The village is located to the south of the town of Ashford on the B2067 ( Hamstreet to Hythe road).
Bonnington h ...
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 ...
and St Bernard's between 1904 and 1926, both having previously played at the neighbouring
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 ...
ground.
History
The ground was originally known as Powderhall, and was renamed the Heriot Cricket and Football Ground before becoming Old Logie Green. It was located directly to the south-east of the Powderhall Grounds, which later became
New Powderhall
Powderhall Stadium formerly the Powderhall Grounds was a greyhound racing track in Edinburgh, Scotland. It was located on Beaverhall Road, in the Powderhall ( Broughton) area of northern Edinburgh, beside the Water of Leith. The track closed in ...
, and to the north-east of New Logie Green.
Leith Athletic moved to the ground from Chancelot Park in 1904,Leith Athletic Historical Kits and played their first league game there on 27 August 1904, a 3–1 win over Hamilton Academical. The ground already had a covered stand on the eastern side of the pitch, and embankments were later built around the rest of it.Paul Smith & Shirley Smith (2005) ''The Ultimate Directory of English & Scottish Football League Grounds Second Edition 1888–2005'', Yore Publications, p203 On 11 May 1907 it was used as a neutral venue for a play-off match between Raith Rovers and
East Stirlingshire
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 ...
to decide the tenth and eleventh places in Division Two, Raith winning 3–2.
The probable record attendance at Old Logie Green was set on 22 January 1910 when 15,000 watched a
Scottish Cup
The Scottish Football Association Challenge Cup,Clyde, with the visitors winning 1–0. Leith's highest league attendance at the ground was 5,000 for a 0–0 draw with Raith Rovers on 5 February 1910. 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 ...
was suspended during
World War I
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
, and Leith's final SFL league game at the ground before the suspension was played on 20 February 1915, with
Albion Rovers
Albion Rovers Football Club is a semi-professional football team from Coatbridge, North Lanarkshire, Scotland. They are members of the Scottish Professional Football League (SPFL) and play in Scottish League Two, the fourth tier of the Scotti ...
beaten 3–0. However, Leith did not rejoin the SFL after the war, and played matches at Chancelot Park and Wardie Park instead during the post-war period.
At the start of the 1921–22 season, the first season of Division Two football after the war, St Bernard's moved into the ground, playing their first league match on 27 August 1921, a 0–0 draw with
Arbroath
Arbroath () or Aberbrothock ( gd, Obar Bhrothaig ) is a former royal burgh and the largest town in the council area of Angus, Scotland, with a population of 23,902.
It lies on the North Sea coast some ENE of Dundee and SSW of Aberdeen.
The ...
in front of 800 spectators. Their
Royal Gymnasium Ground
The Royal Gymnasium Ground was a football ground in Edinburgh, Scotland. It was the home ground of St Bernard's for most of their existence.
History
The Royal Gymnasium Ground was built on the site of the Royal Patent Gymnasium in Royal Cresc ...
had been commandeered by the Army during the war, who had used it as a heavy transport depot. This had destroyed the pitch and the drainage system, meaning the ground was unusable.Smith & Smith, p213 Although it was purchased by the club's supporters in 1922, it took until November 1924 for it to be completely rebuilt. St Bernard's last league match at Old Logie Green was played on 12 April 1924, a 2–1 defeat to Broxburn United. As their lease had expired, the club played a few matches at Tynecastle at the start of the 1924–25 season before moving back to the Royal Gymnasium Ground.
Having been readmitted to the SFL for the start of the 1924–25 season, Leith returned to Old Logie Green, playing their first league game back at the ground on 23 August 1924, a 2–1 win over Clackmannan. However, they remained there for just two seasons, moving to the adjacent New Powderhall in 1926. The final league match was played at Old Logie Green on 17 April 1926, a 4–1 win over
Johnstone
Johnstone ( sco, Johnstoun, gd, Baile Iain) is a town ...
in front of 1,500 spectators. The site was subsequently used for kennels for the
greyhound racing
Greyhound racing is an organized, competitive sport in which greyhounds are raced around a track. There are two forms of greyhound racing, track racing (normally around an oval track) and coursing; the latter is now banned in most countries. Tra ...
track at New Powderhall, and a supermarket was later built on it.