Cliftonhill

Cliftonhill Stadium

Location in North Lanarkshire
Location	Coatbridge, Scotland
Coordinates	55°51′37″N 4°00′41″W / 55.86028°N 4.01139°W / 55.86028; -4.01139
Owner	Albion Rovers Football Club
Capacity	1,238[1]/ (489 seated)
Field size	110 yd × 72 yd (101 m × 66 m)
Surface	Grass
Opened	1919
Tenants
Albion Rovers F.C. (1919 – Present) Coatbridge Monarchs (1968 – 1969) Coatbridge Tigers (1973 – 1977) Hamilton Academical (1997 – 1999) Dumbarton F.C. (2001)

Cliftonhill Stadium is the home ground of the Scottish Professional Football League team Albion Rovers. The ground is situated in the town of Coatbridge, North Lanarkshire.

History

Cliftonhill opened on 25 December 1919. The Main Stand sits high on a rise above Main Street and was built in the same season as their only Scottish Cup Final appearance. A roof extension over the paddock (a standing area in front of the stand) was added in 1994. The Main Stand and paddock are the only parts of the stadium normally used nowadays and the current capacity is listed as 1,238.^[1] In its heyday, Cliftonhill housed many thousand more people and its record attendance was set on 8 February 1936 when 27,381 watched the visit of Rangers. Floodlighting was installed at the ground in October 1968 and since then, Cliftonhill has at various times staged speedway, greyhound racing and stock car racing as well as football. Unusually and owing to the ground's small capacity, there are no stands or open space behind either goals for spectators. The sizeable partly covered terrace on the opposite side of the main stand is currently closed to all fans.

The outside of the stadium

During the 1990s it looked likely that Albion Rovers would leave Cliftonhill to share a stadium with local rivals Airdrieonians. However opposition from Rovers fans, the local population and others, saw that move fall through and the club are currently working on plans to sell the ground and build a new stadium elsewhere in the town. The floodlighting system comes from Cardiff Arms Park, when it was demolished to make way for the Millennium Stadium.^[2] In 2006 the front entrance and main stand featured in a UK television advert for Flash. Currently, it contains a club shop which opens one hour prior to home first team matches.

The dimensions of the pitch are 110 by 72 yards (101 m × 66 m).

In 2007, Cliftonhill was subject to repeated vandalism.^[3]

Speedway use

The stadium, which had been identified as a potential venue in the 1950s, became the home of Edinburgh Monarchs speedway team in 1968. The renamed Coatbridge Monarchs raced in 1969 but closed when the track licence was sold to Wembley Lions. The stadium hosted Glasgow Tigers from 1973 to mid season 1977 when the promotion moved to Blantyre Greyhound Stadium. The move prompted by a desire to replace the speedway track with a greyhound track.

The original speedway track was unusual as the bends were laid out on the terracing at either end giving the track extremely banked bends.

It was the scene, in the late 60s, of the bizarre incident when a referee started a race while a pipe band were still marching on the track. Piper and drummers scattered as they realised what was happening, but no one was injured.

References

• Henry, J.; Moultray, I. (2001). Speedway in Scotland. Tempus Publishing. ISBN 0-7524-2229-4.