Annfield Stadium
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Annfield Stadium was a football stadium in
Stirling Stirling (; sco, Stirlin; gd, Sruighlea ) is a city in central Scotland, northeast of Glasgow and north-west of Edinburgh. The market town, surrounded by rich farmland, grew up connecting the royal citadel, the medieval old town with its me ...
, Scotland. The stadium was home to Stirling Albion F.C. for almost 50 years until 1993 when it closed after Stirling Albion moved to
Forthbank Stadium Forthbank Stadium is a football stadium in Stirling, Scotland. Opened in 1993, it has been the home ground of Scottish Professional Football League club Stirling Albion since then. Since 2013 it has also hosted the first team matches of Lowl ...
.


History

Before
World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
, King's Park was 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 ...
club based in Stirling, but their
Forthbank Park Forthbank Park was a sports venue in Stirling, Scotland until 1940. Forthbank park was home to King's Park F.C. until the beginning of World War II. During the war Forthbank was destroyed by the Luftwaffe. The ground was victim to the only Germ ...
ground was destroyed by the
Luftwaffe The ''Luftwaffe'' () was the aerial-warfare branch of the German ''Wehrmacht'' before and during World War II. Germany's military air arms during World War I, the ''Luftstreitkräfte'' of the Imperial Army and the '' Marine-Fliegerabtei ...
during the war. Rather than resurrect King's Park, a group of local businessmen led by
coal merchant Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock, formed as rock strata called coal seams. Coal is mostly carbon with variable amounts of other elements, chiefly hydrogen, sulfur, oxygen, and nitrogen. Coal is formed when dea ...
Tom Fergusson, decided to purchase the Annfield Estate. They formed new club called
Stirling Albion Stirling Albion Football Club is a Scottish football club based in the city of Stirling. The club was founded in 1945 following the demise of King's Park after World War II. The club currently competes in Scottish League Two as a member of the ...
. Oak trees were cleared from the estate to lay a pitch and Albion trucks were used as viewing platforms until a stand was built. Annfield opened on 1 August 1945 and the first game played at Annfield was Stirling Albion's tie with Edinburgh City on 18 August 1945, Stirling Albion won the game 8–3. The club constructed a main east stand in 1946 and rebuilt three years later, while a west stand was built in the early 1950s. The record attendance of 26,400 was set by a 1958–59 Scottish Cup tie against
Celtic Celtic, Celtics or Keltic may refer to: Language and ethnicity *pertaining to Celts, a collection of Indo-European peoples in Europe and Anatolia **Celts (modern) *Celtic languages **Proto-Celtic language * Celtic music *Celtic nations Sports Fo ...
. Soon after this, the club erected a roof over the northern terracing. It installed floodlights in 1961 and inaugurated with a friendly match against
Birmingham City Birmingham City Football Club is a professional football club based in Birmingham, England. Formed in 1875 as Small Heath Alliance, it was renamed Small Heath in 1888, Birmingham in 1905, and Birmingham City in 1943. Since 2011, the first te ...
in November. During this period, the Annfield House provided the dressing rooms and club offices. In 1974, these functions moved to a new block erected behind the east stand. Stirling Albion sold Annfield to
Central Regional Council Central Region (''Roinn Meadhanach'' in Scottish Gaelic, Gaelic) was a Local government of Scotland, local government Local government areas of Scotland 1973 to 1996, region of Scotland from 1975 to 1996, one of twelve such bodies across the ...
in 1981 when it was on the verge of bankruptcy. The club's only choice to avoid insolvency was selling the ground for £250,000 to the council and then renting it for £3,000 per annum. In April 1984, the council conducted a safety assessment that resulted in condemnation of parts of the east stand. Central Regional Council decided that it would only invest further public funds in Annfield if it were more accessible to the community. This resulted in the installation of a synthetic pitch, which the Scottish Football League approved in 1987. The first match in Scottish football history played on a synthetic surface was at Annfield in September 1987, between Stirling Albion and
Ayr United Ayr United Football Club are a football club in Ayr, Scotland, who play in the Scottish Championship, the second tier of the Scottish Professional Football League. Formed in 1910 by the merger of Ayr Parkhouse and Ayr F.C., their nickname is ...
. Central Regional Council spent significant funds on Annfield during the 1980s; £100,000 for new floodlights, barriers and gates in 1986 and £450,000 on the synthetic pitch. The cost of the pitch was relatively high because the sloped surface required levelling. The stadium added 600 plastic seats in the west stand in 1987, but the east stand was largely demolished resulting in a capacity of 14,000. Central Regional Council decided in the early 1990s that Annfield should be replaced as the cost of upgrading the buildings and the pitch was not economical. The council constructed
Forthbank Stadium Forthbank Stadium is a football stadium in Stirling, Scotland. Opened in 1993, it has been the home ground of Scottish Professional Football League club Stirling Albion since then. Since 2013 it has also hosted the first team matches of Lowl ...
and closed Annfield on 31 May 1993, at the end of the 1992–93 season after 48 years of use. It demolished the facility to make way for a new housing development.


See also

* Stadium relocations in Scottish football


References

;Sources * {{Football venues in Scotland Defunct football venues in Scotland Sports venues in Stirling (council area) Stirling Albion F.C. Demolished buildings and structures in Scotland Scottish Football League venues Sports venues completed in 1945 Sports venues demolished in 1993 Demolished sports venues in the United Kingdom 1945 establishments in Scotland 1993 disestablishments in Scotland