Glebe Park, Brechin

Glebe Park
"The Glebe"
View of the David H Will Stand
Glebe Park is located in Angus
Glebe Park
Glebe Park
Location in Angus
LocationBrechin, Scotland
Coordinates56°44′07″N 2°39′23″W / 56.73528°N 2.65639°W / 56.73528; -2.65639
OwnerBrechin City
Capacity4,083[1] (1,519 seated)[2]
SurfaceGrass
Opened1919
Tenants
Brechin City (1919–present)

Glebe Park (known as the "Carnegie Fuels Stadium at Glebe Park" for sponsorship reasons) is a football stadium in Brechin, Scotland, which is the home ground of Brechin City.

Glebe Park opened in 1919.[3] The ground had just one portable stand, which had been used at the Perth agricultural show.[3] Brechin City joined the Scottish Football League in 1929, when a pavilion was added and the Cemetery End terrace was covered.[3] The biggest ever attendance was 8,123, against Aberdeen in a Scottish Cup tie played on 3 February 1973.[3] This attendance was greater than the population of Brechin.[3] Floodlights were installed and used for the first time in 1977, in a match against Hibernian.[3]

Glebe Park in 1983

The old stand was replaced by a new Main Stand, with 290 seats, in 1981.[3] Sponsorship by the Stewart Milne group and a Football Trust grant of £210,000 financed the construction of a 1,228 seat stand at the Trinity Road end of the ground.[3] This stand had double the capacity of Brechin City's average attendance, which attracted criticism from non-league clubs in England, who believed that the Football Trust should fund their developments instead.[3]

Unusually, the largest stand in the ground was built behind the goal, rather than the side opposite the Main Stand.[3] This was because that side is constrained by a terrace and the Glebe Park hedge, which runs past more than half of the pitch.[3][4][5] The hedge was threatened in 2009 because Glebe Park's pitch dimensions were too small for it to meet UEFA requirements, at just 67 yards wide.[3][4][5] A fine was suspended by the SFA because Brechin City carried out some work to resolve the problem.[6] There is a small training pitch behind the hedge.

Glebe Park has also been used for the reserve team matches of Scottish Premier League club Aberdeen.

  1. ^ "Brechin City Football Club". Scottish Football Ground Guide. Archived from the original on 10 April 2016. Retrieved 11 November 2013.
  2. ^ Rangers' Ramsdens Cup tie will go ahead in Brechin - BBC Sport, 17 July 2012
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Inglis 1996, p. 430
  4. ^ a b "Brechin dig heels in over hedge row". sport.scotsman.com. Johnston Press. 27 March 2009. Retrieved 4 November 2011.
  5. ^ a b "Brechin pitch falls foul of Uefa". BBC Sport. 14 January 2009. Retrieved 4 November 2011.
  6. ^ "Cowdenbeath haven't made enough effort, insists SFA". sport.scotsman.com. Johnston Press. 31 March 2010. Retrieved 4 November 2011.