Shielfield 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 ...

stadium that is home to

Berwick Rangers Berwick Rangers Football Club is a football team based in the town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, England, just south of the border with Scotland. Founded in 1881, they currently play in the , the fifth tier of Scottish football, despite hailing fr ...

and

Berwick Bandits The Berwick Bandits are a British speedway club, based in Berwick-upon-Tweed. They currently compete in the SGB Championship, racing at Shielfield Park, with home matches usually taking place on Saturday evenings. They also run a second team in ...

speedway Speedway may refer to: Racing Race tracks *Edmonton International Speedway, also known as Speedway Park, a former motor raceway in Edmonton, Alberta *Indianapolis Motor Speedway, a motor raceway in Speedway, Indiana Types of races and race cours ...

team. Although Berwick Rangers is a

Scottish Lowland Football League The Scottish Lowland Football League (SLFL, commonly known as the Lowland League) is a senior football league based in central and southern Scotland. The league sits at level 5 on the Scottish football league system, acting as a feeder to the S ...

club, Shielfield Park is situated in the

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

county of

Northumberland Northumberland () is a county in Northern England, one of two counties in England which border with Scotland. Notable landmarks in the county include Alnwick Castle, Bamburgh Castle, Hadrian's Wall and Hexham Abbey. It is bordered by land on ...

History

There has been a ground at Shielfield Park, named after land owned by local butcher William Shiel Dods, since 1890.

played at a number of other sites in Berwick, including a ground adjacent to the present site at Shielfield. Berwick Rangers first entered 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 ...

1951 Events January * January 4 – Korean War: Third Battle of Seoul – Chinese and North Korean forces capture Seoul for the second time (having lost the Second Battle of Seoul in September 1950). * January 9 – The Government of the United ...

. After a successful run in the

1953–54 Scottish Cup The 1953–54 Scottish Cup was the 69th staging of Scotland's most prestigious football knockout competition. The Cup was won by Celtic who defeated Aberdeen in the final. First round Replays Second replays Second round Repla ...

, a stand was purchased from

Bradford City Bradford City Association Football Club is an English professional football club in Bradford, West Yorkshire. The team competes in League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system and are currently managed by Mark Hughes. Th ...

and the team settled at Shielfield. The ground was opened with a game against

Aston Villa Aston Villa Football Club is a professional football club based in Aston, Birmingham, England. The club competes in the , the top tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1874, they have played at their home ground, Villa Park ...

. The record attendance at Shielfield Park is 13,365, for the

Scottish Cup The Scottish Football Association Challenge Cup,Rangers on 28 January 1967, which Berwick won 1–0 in a famous cup upset. Due to financial problems, Berwick Rangers was forced to sell Shielfield Park to the local council in 1985, who leased it back to the club. Both stand roofs were dismantled in 1990 as a safety precaution. Berwick Rangers nearly went out of business in 1992 and the lease was sold to a greyhound company. The greyhound company initially locked Berwick Rangers out, forcing the club to groundshare with other Second Division clubs. The company eventually relented and allowed the club back in for part of each week. The club's supporters eventually bought the lease out in August 1995.

Speedway

first used Shielfield Park in 1968, but the speedway team left in 1981. Arguments with Berwick Rangers forced the Bandits to find a new home, which was Berrington Lough near Ancroft, Northumberland. The club moved back into Berwick in 1996 and have remained there ever since, enjoying much success during this time and good crowd attendances.

Greyhound racing

Gordon Grant secured a lease for greyhound racing in 1991 and after the construction of a track and associated facilities the racing arrived at Shielfield Park on 29 May 1992. The 390m circumference track was described as a good galloping circuit but the venture only lasted four years because the football club fans bought out the lease in 1995.

Structure and facilities

The current capacity of Shielfield Park is , of which 1,366 are seated in the Main Stand. Opposite the Main Stand is a small covered terrace, nicknamed the "Ducket". Both of the ends are turfed and unused as spectator areas. Behind the west end curve is a maltings.

References

; Sources * {{Scottish greyhound tracks Berwick Rangers F.C. Berwick-upon-Tweed Sports venues in Northumberland Football venues in England Speedway venues in England Scottish Football League venues Scottish Professional Football League venues Defunct greyhound racing venues in the United Kingdom