Victoria Park, also known as the Global Energy Stadium for sponsorship reasons, is an all-seater football stadium in the town of
Dingwall
Dingwall (, ) is a town and a royal burgh in the Highland (council area), 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 castle north ...
,
Highland
Highlands or uplands are areas of high elevation such as a mountainous region, elevated mountainous plateau or high hills. Generally, ''upland'' refers to a range of hills, typically from up to , while ''highland'' is usually reserved for range ...
, Scotland. It is the home ground of Ross County, who currently play in the
Scottish Premiership
The Scottish Premiership, also known as the William Hill (bookmaker), William Hill Premiership for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Scotland and the highest level of the Scottish football league system. Th ...
.
History
Victoria Park has a greater capacity than the population of
Dingwall
Dingwall (, ) is a town and a royal burgh in the Highland (council area), 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 castle north ...
, which was 5,491 at the 2011 census. However the County of
Ross and Cromarty
Ross and Cromarty (), is an area in the Highlands and Islands of Scotland. In modern usage, it is a registration county and a Lieutenancy areas of Scotland, lieutenancy area. Between 1889 and 1975 it was a Shires of Scotland, county.
Historical ...
, 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) f ...
alongside
Inverness Caledonian Thistle
Inverness Caledonian Thistle Football Club, commonly known as Caley Thistle, Inverness CT or just Inverness, is a professional football club based in Inverness, Scotland. The team competes in , the third tier of the Scottish Professional Footba ...
. Victoria Park then became the most northerly ground in the senior section of the Scottish football league system, until Elgin City were admitted in 2000.
Ross County gained promotion to the
Scottish Premier League
The Scottish Premier League (SPL) was the Scottish football league system, top-level league competition for professional Association football, football clubs in Scotland. The league was founded in 1998, when it broke away from the Scottish Foo ...
(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
AstroTurf is an American subsidiary of SportGroup that produces artificial turf for pitch (sports field), playing surfaces in sports. The original AstroTurf product was a pile (textile), short-pile synthetic turf invented in 1965 by Monsanto. Si ...
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 (or simply referred to as hockey in some countries where ice hockey is not popular) is a team sport structured in standard hockey format, in which each team plays with 11 players in total, made up of 10 field players and a goalk ...
. 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