Victoria Park, also known as the Global Energy Stadium for sponsorship reasons, is an all-seater
football stadium
Football stadium may refer to:
* A stadium used in gridiron football, association football or Australian rules football
* A soccer-specific stadium
Soccer-specific stadium is a term used mainly in the United States and Canada to refer to a sp ...
in the town of
Dingwall
Dingwall ( sco, Dingwal, gd, Inbhir Pheofharain ) is a town and a royal burgh in the Highland council area of Scotland. It has a population of 5,491. It was an east-coast harbour that now lies inland. Dingwall Castle was once the biggest cas ...
,
Highland
Highlands or uplands are areas of high elevation such as a mountainous region, elevated mountainous plateau or high hills. Generally speaking, upland (or uplands) refers to ranges of hills, typically from up to while highland (or highlands) is ...
, Scotland. It is the home ground of Ross County, who currently play in the
Scottish Premiership
The Scottish Premiership, known as the cinch Premiership for sponsorship reasons, is the top division of the Scottish Professional Football League (SPFL), the league competition for men's professional football clubs in Scotland. The Scottish ...
.
History
Victoria Park has a greater capacity than the population of
Dingwall
Dingwall ( sco, Dingwal, gd, Inbhir Pheofharain ) is a town and a royal burgh in the Highland council area of Scotland. It has a population of 5,491. It was an east-coast harbour that now lies inland. Dingwall Castle was once the biggest cas ...
, which was 5,491 at the 2011 census. However the County of
Ross and Cromarty
Ross and Cromarty ( gd, Ros agus Cromba), sometimes referred to as Ross-shire and Cromartyshire, is a variously defined area in the Highlands and Islands of Scotland. There is a registration county and a lieutenancy area in current use, the latt ...
from which the club draws much of its support has a population of over 60,000. The largest crowd ever to watch a match at Victoria Park was reported as 8,000, for the
Scottish Cup
The Scottish Football Association Challenge Cup,Rangers in February 1966. The revenue from this match helped to fund construction of the Jail End terrace.Ross County played in the Highland League until 1994, when they were admitted to the
Scottish Football League Third Division
The Scottish Football League Third Division was the fourth tier of the Scottish football league system between 1994 and 2013.
History
The Scottish football league system had operated with three divisions in the Scottish Football League (SFL) fr ...
alongside
Inverness Caledonian Thistle
Inverness Caledonian Thistle Football Club, commonly known as Caley Thistle, is a professional football club based in Inverness, Scotland. The team currently competes in the Scottish Championship, the second tier of the Scottish Professional ...
. Victoria Park then became the most northerly ground in the senior section of the
Scottish football league system
The Scottish football league system is a series of generally connected leagues for Scottish football clubs.
The Scottish system is more complicated than many other national league systems, consisting of several completely separate systems or 'gr ...
, until
Elgin City
Elgin City Football Club (also known as City or The Black and Whites) is a professional senior football club based in Elgin, Moray.
Elgin was founded in 1893 and originally played their football in the Highland Football League. The club was g ...
were admitted in 2000.
Ross County gained promotion to the
Scottish Premier League
The Scottish Premier League (SPL) was the top level league competition for professional football
Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football' ...
(SPL) by winning the 2011–12 Scottish First Division. The stadium was renovated in the spring and summer of 2012 to meet SPL criteria. This involved installing seats in the Jail End, constructing a new North Stand, installing undersoil heating and providing more car parking. Victoria Park was renamed the Global Energy Stadium, after the company founded by Ross County chairman Roy MacGregor, when the renovation was completed in July 2012.
Structure and facilities
There are four all-seated stands: the West (Main Stand) and the East are on either side of the pitch, while the North Stand (Academy End) and the South Stand (Jail End) are behind each goal. The Jail End is so called because the old County Jail and Sheriff Court were behind it. The jails have since been converted to housing, but the Sheriff Court is still used. Away fans are housed in the Academy End. Home fans occupy all other sections of the stadium. There are corporate hospitality facilities and executive boxes in both the East and West Stands. The Sheriff Court is now closed.
The Dingwall campus of the Highland Football Academy is situated behind the Academy End. It has a three-quarter size 3G astroturf pitch under cover and a full-size Astroturf pitch adjacent to the East Stand, which has markings for football, 5-a-side football and
field hockey
Field hockey is a team sport structured in standard hockey format, in which each team plays with ten outfield players and a goalkeeper. Teams must drive a round hockey ball by hitting it with a hockey stick towards the rival team's shooting ci ...
. The Academy also has three full-size grass pitches, plus additional grassed training and warm-up areas.
Gallery
File:Victoria_park_1.jpg, West Stand
File:Victoria_park_2.jpg, Jail End