football
Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...
West Highlands
The Highlands (; , ) is a historical region of Scotland. Culturally, the Highlands and the Lowlands diverged from the Late Middle Ages into the modern period, when Lowland Scots language replaced Scottish Gaelic throughout most of the Lowlan ...
of Scotland, which is the home ground of
North Caledonian League
The North Caledonian Football Association is a senior football association operating throughout the Highlands and Islands of Scotland and is a recognised body of the Scottish Football Association (SFA) and as such has its senior football competit ...
side Fort William. It is located on Achintee Road on the outskirts of the town and has a capacity of 1,800 with 400 seated. The ground is often considered the most picturesque in Great Britain due to its proximity to the foothills of
Ben Nevis
Ben Nevis ( ; , ) is the highest mountain in Scotland, the United Kingdom, and the British Isles. Ben Nevis stands at the western end of the Grampian Mountains in the Highland region of Lochaber, close to the town of Fort William.
The mount ...
, the highest point in the United Kingdom.
History
Fort William F.C. is one of the youngest members of the Highland Football League, joining in 1985, just over a decade after the club was founded.Fort William F.C. The Scottish Highland Football League. Retrieved 21 May 2012.Fort William – Claggan Park ''fanzone.co.uk''. Retrieved 21 May 2012. The club's first ever Highland League match at Claggan Park was against Clachnacuddin of
Inverness
Inverness (; ; from the , meaning "Mouth of the River Ness") is a city in the Scottish Highlands, having been granted city status in 2000. It is the administrative centre for The Highland Council and is regarded as the capital of the Highland ...
and resulted in the club's first league goal in a 1–0 win. The record attendance at ground came a few months later in early January 1986 when 1,500 spectators watched the club take on
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 as a member of the Scottish Profession ...
in the
second round
The second (symbol: s) is a unit of time derived from the division of the day first into 24 hours, then to 60 minutes, and finally to 60 seconds each (24 × 60 × 60 = 86400). The current and formal definition in the International System of Un ...
of the
Scottish Cup
The Scottish Football Association Challenge Cup,Ground of the week: Claggan Park ''
BBC London
BBC London is the BBC English Region producing local radio, television, teletext and online services in London, Surrey and parts of the surrounding areas of the Home Counties. Its output includes the daily '' BBC London'' news bulletin and w ...
''. 13 February 2008. Retrieved 21 May 2012. The match ended in a 0–0 draw but Fort William were thrashed 6–0 in the replay at
Annfield Stadium
Annfield Stadium was a football stadium in Stirling, 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.
History
Before World War II, King's Pa ...
in
Stirling
Stirling (; ; ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city in Central Belt, central Scotland, northeast of Glasgow and north-west of Edinburgh. The market town#Scotland, market town, surrounded by rich farmland, grew up connecting the roya ...
a week later.Scottish FA Cup 1985–1986 : Second Round , ''statto.com''. Retrieved 21 May 2012.
Since 1971, Claggan Park has been the start and finish of the annual
Ben Nevis Race
The Ben Nevis Race is a mountain race that takes place annually, from the foot of Ben Nevis (highest mountain in the British Isles) to the top, then back again. The course is 14km long and includes around 1,340metres of ascent. Up to six hundre ...
.
Structure and facilities
The ground has two stands that are able to seat 100 spectators while the whole ground can officially accommodate up to 1,800 with standees. However, with the old 400 seater stand being condemned and fenced off, the real capacity is lower.
Transport
The nearest railway station to Claggan Park is
Fort William railway station
Fort William railway station serves the town of Fort William, in the Highland region of Scotland. It is on the West Highland line, between Spean Bridge and Banavie, measured from Craigendoran Junction, at the southern end of the line near Hele ...
, which is about a 20-minute walk of a mile (1600 m) from the ground. The station is located on the
West Highland Line
The West Highland Line ( – "Iron Road to the Isles") is a railway line linking the ports of Mallaig and Oban in the Scottish Highlands to Glasgow in Central Scotland. The line was voted the top rail journey in the world by readers of indepen ...
between
Glasgow Queen Street railway station
Glasgow Queen Street () is a passenger railway terminus serving the city centre of Glasgow, Scotland. It is the smaller of the city's two mainline railway terminals (the larger being Glasgow Central) and is the third-busiest station in Scotland ...
and
Mallaig railway station
Mallaig railway station is a railway station serving the ferry port of Mallaig, Lochaber, in the Highland (unitary authority area), Highland region of Scotland. This station is a terminus on the West Highland Line, by rail from and from Glasgo ...
. Trains from Glasgow Queen Street terminate at Fort William before reversing out of the station and continuing on to
Mallaig
Mallaig (; ) is a seaport, port in Morar, on the west coast of the Scottish Highlands, Highlands of Scotland. It faces Skye from across the Sound of Sleat. The Mallaig railway station, local railway station is the terminus of the West Highlan ...