Springvale Park was 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

Cowlairs Cowlairs is an area in the Scottish city of Glasgow, part of the wider Springburn district of the city. It is situated north of the River Clyde, between central Springburn to the east and Possilpark to the west. Administratively, in the 21st ce ...

area of

Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...

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 was the home ground of

Cowlairs F.C. Cowlairs Football Club was a 19th-century football club from the Cowlairs area of Glasgow in Scotland. The club were one of the founder members of the Scottish Football League in 1890, and played at Springvale Park during their time in the leagu ...

during their time in the

Scottish Football League The Scottish Football League (SFL) was a 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 km south ...

History

The ground was opened in 1890 when Cowlairs moved from Gourlay Park prior to the start of the first Scottish Football League season.Paul Smith & Shirley Smith (2005) ''The Ultimate Directory of English & Scottish Football League Grounds Second Edition 1888–2005'', Yore Publications, p221, It was located on Cowlairs Road to the east of the

Cowlairs railway works Cowlairs Locomotive, Carriage and Wagon Works, at Cowlairs in Springburn, an area in the north-east of Glasgow, Scotland, was built in 1841 for the Edinburgh and Glasgow Railway and was taken over by the North British Railway (NBR) in 1865. It ...

. The first league game at the stadium was played on 23 August 1890, with Cowlairs beating

Vale of Leven The Vale of Leven (Scottish Gaelic: ''Magh Leamhna'') is an area of West Dunbartonshire, Scotland, in the valley of the River Leven. Historically, it was part of The Lennox, the name of which derives from the Gaelic term ''Leamhnach'', meaning '' ...

3–2. The highest league attendance at the ground was probably the 2,500 who watched Cowlairs lose 5–0 to

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 Fo ...

on 29 April 1891, with the likely record attendance being 6,000 for a

Glasgow Cup The Glasgow Cup is a football tournament open to teams from Glasgow, Scotland. Operated by the Glasgow Football Association, it was competed for annually by senior Glasgow clubs from 1887 until 1989. It is now (since the 2019–20 amended rules ...

semi-final game against Celtic on 27 October 1894. By then the stadium had an open seated stand on the northern side of the pitch, a pavilion complex in the south-eastern corner, and a running track that was added in 1893. At the end of the 1894–95 season Cowlairs failed to be re-elected to the Scottish League. After leaving the league, they returned to Goulay Park. The league match at Springvale Park was played on 27 April 1895, with Cowlairs beating Dundee Wanderers 2–1. The site was later used to expand the surrounding railway sidings and for a railway chord allowing direct services between

Glasgow Queen Street , symbol_location = gb , symbol = rail , image = Queen Street railway station (geograph 6687389).jpg , caption = Main entrance in 2020 , borough = Glasgow , country = Scotland , coordinates = , grid_name = Grid reference , grid_positi ...

and

Springburn Springburn ( gd, Allt an Fhuairainn) is an inner-city district in the north of the Scottish city of Glasgow, made up of generally working-class households. Springburn developed from a rural hamlet at the beginning of the 19th century. Its indu ...

References

{{Football venues in Scotland Defunct football venues in Scotland Cowlairs F.C. Springburn Scottish Football League venues Football venues in Glasgow