Annfield Stadium was a football stadium 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 ...

, Scotland. The stadium was home to

Stirling Albion F.C. Stirling Albion Football Club is a Scottish association football, football club based in the city of Stirling. The club was founded in 1945 following the demise of King's Park F.C., King's Park after World War II. The club currently competes in ...

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 Lowland ...

History

Before

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, King's Park was the

Scottish Football League The Scottish Football League (SFL) is a defunct 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&nbs ...

club based in Stirling, but their Forthbank Park ground was destroyed by the

Luftwaffe The Luftwaffe () was the aerial warfare, aerial-warfare branch of the before and during World War II. German Empire, Germany's military air arms during World War I, the of the Imperial German Army, Imperial Army and the of the Imperial Ge ...

during the war. Rather than resurrect King's Park, a group of local businessmen led by

coal merchant A coal merchant is the term used in the UK and other countries for a trader who sells coal and often delivers it to households. Coal merchants were once a major class of local business, but have declined in importance in many parts of the developed ...

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 as a member of the Scottish Profession ...

. 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 Foot ...

. 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. The team compete in the ...

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. On 18th May 1977, Annfield Stadium was visited by

Queen Elizabeth II Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 19268 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until Death and state funeral of Elizabeth II, her death in 2022. ...

and

Prince Philip Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh (born Prince Philip of Greece and Denmark, later Philip Mountbatten; 10 June 19219 April 2021), was the husband of Queen Elizabeth II. As such, he was the consort of the British monarch from h ...

as part of the

Silver Jubilee Silver Jubilee marks a 25th anniversary. The anniversary celebrations can be of a wedding anniversary, the 25th year of a monarch's reign or anything that has completed or is entering a 25-year mark. Royal Silver Jubilees since 1750 Note: This ...

celebrations. On 8th December 1984, Annfield Stadium was the site of the British football's biggest win as Stirling Albion beat Selkirk 20-0 in the

Scottish Cup The Scottish Football Association Challenge Cup, Stirling Albion sold Annfield to Central Regional Council 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. 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

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.

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 Sport in Stirling (city)

History

See also

References