Netherdale

Netherdale rugby stadium, home of Gala RFC.
The main stand of Netherdale football stadium, which is a Category A listed building.
This article is about the football and rugby stadiums. For the area of the town after which it is named, see Galashiels#Netherdale.

Netherdale is a sports complex in Galashiels, a town in the Scottish Borders. It is the home of Gala Rugby Club, Gala Fairydean Rovers Football Club and was used by the professional Border Reivers rugby union team. The complex consists of two stadiums, both referred to as ‘Netherdale’, which back onto each other.

The rugby stadium has a large grandstand which overlooks the pitch and the nearby Eildon Hills. While the professional Border Reivers club played, a second fully seated stand was installed, increasing the capacity to around 4,000 from the previous 2,000. New pitch protection systems were installed, which the Scottish Rugby Union continued to pay the maintenance costs for even after the Border Reivers club was closed.[1] The stadium hosted the 1999 Rugby World Cup Pool A match between Uruguay and Spain.[2][3]

The football stadium has a capacity of around 2,000. The ground’s most striking feature is the main stand, which was opened in 1964.[4] With a capacity of 500 it is the largest stand in the Scottish Borders.[4] Designed by the renowned British architect Peter Womersley, the concrete structure is sometimes sarcastically dubbed as “the San Siro of the Borders.” It was awarded a 'B' category listing by Historic Scotland in December 2006, which means the "character and setting" of the building must be preserved for "future generations".[4][5] Historic Scotland upgraded its listing to 'A' category in December 2013, stating that the stand is "a significant work of late modernist architecture in Scotland".[6][7]

2014 European Cup

As part of the 2014 Rugby League European Cup, Netheredale hosted the match between Scotland and France on October 31. France won the match 38-22.[8]

References

  1. ↑ Ferguson, David (29 June 2009). "SRU paying £51,000 a year for Netherdale as feud goes on". The Scotsman (Johnston Publishing). Retrieved 8 June 2013.
  2. ↑ IRB World Cup 99 Stats
  3. ↑ "The Grounds". BBC News. BBC. Retrieved 8 June 2013.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 "Anger over listing for 'Soviet' football stand". The Scotsman (Johnston Publishing). 7 December 2006. Retrieved 8 June 2013.
  5. ↑ Fairburn, Rob (7 December 2006). "You lot must be away with the Fairydeans". Archived from the original on 27 September 2007. Retrieved 8 June 2013.
  6. ↑ "Gala Fairydean Rovers stand upgraded to A-listed". The Scotsman (Johnston Publishing). 2 December 2013. Retrieved 2 December 2013.
  7. ↑ "Gala Fairydean Rovers grandstand achieves A-listed status". BBC News. BBC. 2 December 2013. Retrieved 3 December 2013.
  8. ↑ "SCOTLAND 22 - 38 FRANCE". Scotland RL. Scotland RL. 1 November 2014. Retrieved 20 December 2014.

Coordinates: 55°36′27″N 2°46′57″W / 55.607445°N 2.782545°W