Christie 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 the town of

Huntly Huntly ( gd, Srath Bhalgaidh or ''Hunndaidh'') is a town in Aberdeenshire, Scotland, formerly known as Milton of Strathbogie or simply Strathbogie. It had a population of 4,460 in 2004 and is the site of Huntly Castle. Its neighbouring settlemen ...

in the north-east of

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 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

Huntly F.C. Huntly Football Club are a senior football club, currently playing in the Highland League in Scotland. The club was founded in 1928 and plays at Christie Park in Huntly. History Huntly F.C. was formed in 1928. They were unanimously accepted ...

It is located on East Park Street in the north-east of the town and has a capacity of 2,200 with 270 seated.

History

The ground was previously known as Strathbogie Park from 1921 when it opened, until 1926 when it was renamed Christie Park. The ground takes its name from former Provost Christie who acquired the ground and donated it to the football club on the condition that they remained amateur. This was agreed by the club, who subsequently renamed the ground in Christie's honour. In 1975, an incident at the end of a match where fans crossing the pitch to exit the stadium allegedly pushed the match

referee A referee is an official, in a variety of sports and competition, responsible for enforcing the rules of the sport, including sportsmanship decisions such as ejection. The official tasked with this job may be known by a variety of other titl ...

to the ground. As a result, it was ordered by the Referee's Committee on 18 December that the ground be closed for the first two months of 1976. The club was fined £100 and it was ordered that police officers be present at every

home game In sports, home is the place and venue identified with a team sport. Most professional teams are named for, and marketed to, particular metropolitan areas; amateur teams may be drawn from a particular region, or from institutions such as sch ...

in the future. This type of punishment was unprecedented in Scottish football as it was the first time a club's stadium had been closed down.Club History – A Look Back – HFL History made for the wrong reasons
, Huntly Football Club. Retrieved 29 May 2012. Huntly's record attendance at Christie Park came in February 1995 when 4,500 spectators watched the club take on Dundee United in the fourth round of the

Scottish Cup The Scottish Football Association Challenge Cup,Club Info – Contact & General Details
Huntly FC Online. Retrieved 29 May 2012. The home side lost 3–1.Scottish FA Cup 1994-1995 : Results
''statto.com''. Retrieved 29 May 2012.

Transport

The nearest railway station to the ground is

Huntly railway station , symbol_location = gb , symbol = rail , image = Huntly railway station. View towards Insch from the pedestrian footbridge.jpg , caption = Looking south towards Insch from the footbridge , borough = Huntly, Aberdeenshire , country = Scotlan ...

which is located half a mile south-east of Christie Park, roughly a 10-minute walk.Highland Premier – Huntly – Christie Park
''fanzine.co.uk''. Retrieved 29 May 2012. The station is located on the Aberdeen to Inverness Line. Access by road is served by the A96 between

Inverness Inverness (; from the gd, Inbhir Nis , meaning "Mouth of the River Ness"; sco, Innerness) is a city in the Scottish Highlands. It is the administrative centre for The Highland Council and is regarded as the capital of the Highlands. Histori ...

and

Aberdeen Aberdeen (; sco, Aiberdeen ; gd, Obar Dheathain ; la, Aberdonia) is a city in North East Scotland, and is the third most populous city in the country. Aberdeen is one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas (as Aberdeen City), and ...

, which passes to the south and west of the town.

References

External links

Christie Park at footballgroundmap.comChristie Park at soccerway.comHuntly FC Official Website
{{Football venues in Scotland Highland Football League venues Sports venues in Aberdeenshire Huntly F.C. Sports venues completed in 1921 1921 establishments in Scotland