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Moving The Goalposts

A blog by The Mantis in Football

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Looking at Scottish football grounds over the years

Entries in this blog

My Gran Could Play in the Scottish Premier League

Lower League Ramblings Here I am again, baring my soul for all you lot to see. Yes I watch Love Island. I’m not proud of it but I live for the drama in the villa and I make sure I rush home to watch it every night. Like everyone else I am praying for them to chuck in a wee ugly fat guy from Greenock with incredible patter to represent our fine nation in front of millions. My prayers have not been answered. Instead they have chucked in an Edinburgh born hunk of a man, tattoos covering his chest

Peterhead FC – Balmoor Stadium

Right, time to get the blog up and running after that long hibernation… In 2015 I finally got around to visiting Peterhead’s ‘new’ stadium, which had actually opened 18 years earlier. So having ‘Completed The 42’ as they say, away back in the day, I once more slotted in the last part of the jigsaw and ticked off the missing ground. Not much of a groundhopper then. Some people would have been there the day it opened. All of the photos below are mine, except for the first one, which I couldn’t r

Peterhead FC – Balmoor Stadium

Right, time to get the blog up and running after that long hibernation… In 2015 I finally got around to visiting Peterhead’s ‘new’ stadium, which had actually opened 18 years earlier. So having ‘Completed The 42’ as they say, away back in the day, I once more slotted in the last part of the jigsaw and ticked off the missing ground. Not much of a groundhopper then. Some people would have been there the day it opened. All of the photos below are mine, except for the first one, which I co

Women’s Euro 2017 – part 3 – Deventer

So on Monday morning, after the disappointment against Portugal, which meant Scotland would be eliminated unless they could achieve the daunting task of beating Spain 2-0, we left Rotterdam and headed up the A4 motorway past Amsterdam, to Volendam where we would spend a couple of days. Before leaving Rotterdam we had a quick wander around the Oude Haven (Old Harbour). We also had a quick stop for photos at de Kuip or Stadion Feijenoord (see previous blog). We had been to Volendam 15 years bef

Women’s Euro 2017 – part 3 – Deventer

So on Monday morning, after the disappointment against Portugal, which meant Scotland would be eliminated unless they could achieve the daunting task of beating Spain 2-0, we left Rotterdam and headed up the A4 motorway past Amsterdam, to Volendam where we would spend a couple of days. Before leaving Rotterdam we had a quick wander around the Oude Haven (Old Harbour). We also had a quick stop for photos at de Kuip or Stadion Feijenoord (see previous blog). We had been to Volendam 15 y

Women’s Euro 2017 – part 2 – Rotterdam

After leaving Utrecht we headed up north for a couple of days and spent an afternoon in Groningen. Groningen is a university city, the largest city in the North with a population of just over 200000 and it was supposed to be quieter during the summer, but we had the usual hectic game of ‘dodge the bike’ – Groningen has been called the ‘World Cycling City’. We did the obligatory Groninger Museum and were mightily impressed with the building, which stands in the middle of the canal and links the r

Women’s Euro 2017 – part 2 – Rotterdam

After leaving Utrecht we headed up north for a couple of days and spent an afternoon in Groningen. Groningen is a university city, the largest city in the North with a population of just over 200000 and it was supposed to be quieter during the summer, but we had the usual hectic game of ‘dodge the bike’ – Groningen has been called the ‘World Cycling City’. We did the obligatory Groninger Museum and were mightily impressed with the building, which stands in the middle of the canal and links the r

Women’s Euro 2017 – part 1 – Utrecht

First stop on the Euro 2017 tour is the 24426 capacity Stadion Galgenwaard in Utrecht. FC Utrecht were formed as recently as 1970 by a merger of 3 clubs. Utrecht are the only club outside the big three (Ajax, Feyenoord, PSV) never to be relegated from the Eredivisie and last season they were 4th. Their average attendance was just over 18000. The modern stadium dates from 1982 but has had a couple more revamps since then and the current look of the place dates from 2004. Apparently the name is f

Women’s Euro 2017 – part 1 – Utrecht

First stop on the Euro 2017 tour is the 24426 capacity Stadion Galgenwaard in Utrecht. FC Utrecht were formed as recently as 1970 by a merger of 3 clubs. Utrecht are the only club outside the big three (Ajax, Feyenoord, PSV) never to be relegated from the Eredivisie and last season they were 4th. Their average attendance was just over 18000. The modern stadium dates from 1982 but has had a couple more revamps since then and the current look of the place dates from 2004. Apparently the name

Dunfermline Athletic FC – East End Park

YouTube: ICT and The Pars coming out, 2005 A few memories and photos of East End Park before I head off to the Women’s Euros in The Netherlands where I hope to be blogging a few reports from the Scotland games. As usual I hope the Pars supporters will excuse any glaring errors. I try to use my own photography on these blogs and I apologise for any images not bearing my personal watermark as that means I have nicked them off the internet * Some perspective – although I have spent many a pleas

Dunfermline Athletic FC – East End Park

YouTube: ICT and The Pars coming out, 2005 A few memories and photos of East End Park before I head off to the Women’s Euros in The Netherlands where I hope to be blogging a few reports from the Scotland games. As usual I hope the Pars supporters will excuse any glaring errors. I try to use my own photography on these blogs and I apologise for any images not bearing my personal watermark as that means I have nicked them off the internet * Some perspective – although I have spent

Largs Thistle – Barrfields Stadium

That’s my season over. It started away back on July 2nd when I was missing my fix badly enough to go along to Cliftonhill to see Albion Rovers lose 3-1 to Motherwell in a friendly, with torrential sunshowers coming along every 15 minutes to test the leaks in the old stand. Since then I’ve seen Internationals with Scotland (men and women), Premiership in Scotland, England, Portugal, Iceland, Northern Ireland and Faroes, Highland League, U20 Development, East and West Juniors, Northern League in E

Largs Thistle – Barrfields Stadium

That’s my season over. It started away back on July 2nd when I was missing my fix badly enough to go along to Cliftonhill to see Albion Rovers lose 3-1 to Motherwell in a friendly, with torrential sunshowers coming along every 15 minutes to test the leaks in the old stand. Since then I’ve seen Internationals with Scotland (men and women), Premiership in Scotland, England, Portugal, Iceland, Northern Ireland and Faroes, Highland League, U20 Development, East and West Juniors, Northern League in E

Bankfoot and Luncarty

I picked two pretty obscure clubs to blog about this time, but I have to say I enjoyed researching them, although there’s not much out there. If anybody has anything to add to this blog, or just corrections, don’t hold back… I became aware of the villages when I started youth hostelling with my mates before I left school. One year we got the bus to Perth and walked to Birnam, where there was a hostel in an old schoolhouse, but this has now been demolished. I had a look for it last year when we

Bankfoot and Luncarty

I picked two pretty obscure clubs to blog about this time, but I have to say I enjoyed researching them, although there’s not much out there. If anybody has anything to add to this blog, or just corrections, don’t hold back… I became aware of the villages when I started youth hostelling with my mates before I left school. One year we got the bus to Perth and walked to Birnam, where there was a hostel in an old schoolhouse, but this has now been demolished. I had a look for it last year when we

Cowdenbeath FC – Central Park

Can’t really blog about anybody else this week as The Blue Brazil are very much in the news. Having been part of the Scottish League system since 1905, they have finished this season as the dreaded Club 42 and face a two-legged playoff against East Kilbride to avoid dropping into the Lowland League. Worse still, this would represent a 3rd consecutive relegation. The club’s foundation is disputed (either 1881 or 1882) but they have played at Central Park since 1917. Usually dismissed as a dump b

Cowdenbeath FC – Central Park

Can’t really blog about anybody else this week as The Blue Brazil are very much in the news. Having been part of the Scottish League system since 1905, they have finished this season as the dreaded Club 42 and face a two-legged playoff against East Kilbride to avoid dropping into the Lowland League. Worse still, this would represent a 3rd consecutive relegation. The club’s foundation is disputed (either 1881 or 1882) but they have played at Central Park since 1917. Usually dismissed as a dump b

Shire and Stenny

One of the benefits of being an old git is being able to bore people about how things used to be. Back in the 90s you had Stenhousemuir playing at Ochilview, and East Stirlingshire at Firs Park. So over the years I’ve seen Stenny with the old stand shown below, which is opposite where the new 626 seater Norway Stand is. The old “Doll’s House” stand had 310 bench seats and was built in 1928, 7 years after the Warriors joined the League, to replace the old wooden stand which had burned down. They

Shire and Stenny

One of the benefits of being an old git is being able to bore people about how things used to be. Back in the 90s you had Stenhousemuir playing at Ochilview, and East Stirlingshire at Firs Park. So over the years I’ve seen Stenny with the old stand shown below, which is opposite where the new 626 seater Norway Stand is. The old “Doll’s House” stand had 310 bench seats and was built in 1928, 7 years after the Warriors joined the League, to replace the old wooden stand which had burned down. They

ÍBV – Hásteinsvöllur

Íþróttabandalag Vestmannaeyja is quite a mouthful so I’ll be referring to them as ÍBV from now on. I had been to Iceland twice before and caught a glimpse of these islands off the south coast. I managed to persuade my missus to go back to Iceland in September of 2016 and we spent four nights in Vestmannaeyjar, or the Westman Islands as everybody calls them in English. Apparently the West Men were the Irish. To get to Vestmannaeyjar is not the easiest task. You can get to the ferry by car but w

ÍBV – Hásteinsvöllur

Íþróttabandalag Vestmannaeyja is quite a mouthful so I’ll be referring to them as ÍBV from now on. I had been to Iceland twice before and caught a glimpse of these islands off the south coast. I managed to persuade my missus to go back to Iceland in September of 2016 and we spent four nights in Vestmannaeyjar, or the Westman Islands as everybody calls them in English. Apparently the West Men were the Irish. To get to Vestmannaeyjar is not the easiest task. You can get to the ferry by car but w

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