McDiarmid Park
Encyclopedia
McDiarmid Park is a football stadium
in Perth
, Scotland, the home ground of St. Johnstone FC. It has an all-seated capacity of 10,673.
since 1924, but it had fallen into disrepair by the 1980s. St. Johnstone was then a Second Division
club and did not have the funds to repair it. In December 1986, however, the club received the news that ASDA
wanted to purchase Muirton Park and the adjoining ice rink to build a supermarket on the site. In return, the club would be relocated, at no cost to them, to a brand-new stadium at the western edge of the city. A local farmer, Bruce McDiarmid, donated 16 acres of land on which the stadium now stands. The going rate for the land at that time would have been approximately £400,000 but Bruce McDiarmid saw a donation of his "berry and barley fields" as a gift to the people of Perth. It was at the insistence of St. Johnstone that he accepted a 20 per cent shareholding and the title of honorary president of the football club. The Taylor Report
noted that there had been a happy "confluence of factors" that allowed St. Johnstone to make this development.
The stadium was designed by Percy Johnson-Marshall
and built by Miller Construction. The stadium was a prototype
and based on legislative advice that was soon to become out of date, but a good facility was built for a reasonable cost. Work started on the Tulloch
farmland donated by Bruce McDiarmid in December 1988 and was finished by the following August in time for the start of the 1989–90 season. Although McDiarmid Park was opened after the Hillsborough disaster
, all of the planning and most of the construction work had been done beforehand. Lord Justice Taylor
visited the ground as part of his inquiry into the disaster.
The first match at McDiarmid Park was played on 19 August 1989, a 2–1 victory for Saints in a First Division
match against Clydebank
. This league fixture on the opening day of the season was deliberately kept low-key as a glamour challenge match had been arranged for the official opening. On 17 October 1989, St. Johnstone lined up against English club Manchester United
, who brought a full strength side to Scotland. The Manchester United team, managed by former St. Johnstone player Alex Ferguson
, included Jim Leighton
, Steve Bruce
, Gary Pallister
, Bryan Robson
, Paul Ince
, Brian McClair
, Mark Hughes
and Lee Sharpe
. McClair scored the only goal of the game, in front of a near capacity (9,780) crowd. The legendary Sir Matt Busby and Bobby Charlton
were also in attendance. With just 30 minutes played of the match, the stadium was temporarily plunged into darkness caused by a fault at an electricity substation. Although the stadium's emergency generators were able to provide lighting in the stands, it was 23 minutes before play was resumed.
St. Johnstone enjoyed great success when the stadium first opened. The club won promotion to the Premier Division
in their first season at McDiarmid. In the first season back in the top flight, the average attendance at McDiarmid was 6,000, approximately three times what it had been at Muirton. These high attendances led the club to create space for another 600 seats, raising the capacity to over 10,700. A record home attendance of 10,721 was set by a home game against Rangers
on 26 February 1991. McDiarmid Park also hosted matches of the Scotland under-21 team
and the Scotland women's national team
. By the mid-1990s, however, attendances had drifted down to below 4,000, although this was still nearly double what they had been at Muirton.
In 2011, plans to demolish the 2,000 capacity North Stand were publicised. This would allow Perth and Kinross Council
to build a commuter link road from the neighbouring A9 road into Perth. St. Johnstone chairman Geoff Brown justified the proposal on the grounds that comparable clubs, such as Inverness
and St. Mirren
, have since built grounds with smaller capacities.
McDiarmid Park, the first purpose-built all-seater stadium in the United Kingdom, consists of four covered, single-tier stands. Facilities include parking for 1,000 cars and 100 coaches, a synthetic playing surface adjacent to the ground (which is used as the team's training ground), and conference facilities within the Main (West) Stand. The stands are all of a similar height, with the Main Stand, on the western side of the ground, being slightly taller. The Main Stand also has greater leg room between rows of seats and includes an area with padded seats reserved for season-ticket holders, club officials and their guests. In the north-east corner of the ground there is an electronic scoreboard. The floodlights at McDiarmid are the same ones used at Muirton Park
. The club also tried to retain the square goalposts used at Muirton, but the timber frames could not be re-erected.
The South Stand is named the Ormond Stand, after Willie Ormond
, a successful manager of St. Johnstone who left the club in 1973 to manage Scotland
. The Ormond Stand also houses the club's souvenir shop, which is only open on match days before and after the match. It was formerly nominated as a "family stand", for home fans and fans of the visiting club to sit together. The club has a number of options for housing visiting fans. Visiting supports of a few hundred or less are housed in a segregated section at the north end of the main stand, with the two end stands closed. Clubs who regularly bring a larger support are also allocated the North Stand. If a very large visiting support is expected the club has a further option to also open the Ormond Stand for away fans.
Being a prototype stadium, McDiarmid Park has some faults that critics of seated stadia picked upon. Spectators in the front rows of the stands are not necessarily sheltered, while the stadium has been criticised for lacking atmosphere. St. Johnstone also attracted criticism for charging visiting supporters more than away supporters, a practice that became commonplace.
side Caledonia Reds
played some of their home games at McDiarmid Park before they were merged with the Glasgow Warriors
in 1998. The merged Warriors initially played some of their 1999 games in Perth, but eventually switched all home games to Glasgow
.
On 13 November 2004 the Scotland national rugby union team
played Japan
there in a historic first test match north of the River Forth
. The result was a 100–8 scoreline in favour of Scotland, the first time the Scottish rugby team had scored a century. Chris Paterson
scored 40 points (three tries, 11 conversions and one penalty).
The stadium has hosted several of Scotland's "A" team: a victory over Italy in 1999, a draw over Argentina in 1999, a win against Samoa in 2000, and a loss to Italy in 2003. On 21 November 2006, Scotland "A" faced Australia
in Perth, their first appearance on home soil in three years.http://www.stjohnstonefc.co.uk/newsitem.asp?NewsID=1817 On 23 February 2007, Scotland "A" hosted Italy
at McDiarmid Park.
, which brings thousands of worshippers to the local area every summer. In July 2009, a mass baptism
was held, which included the use of a 33 feet (10.1 m) pool. Over 8,000 people attended the three-day event. On 6 July 2008, Elton John
became the first musician to play at the stadium.
Stadium
A modern stadium is a place or venue for outdoor sports, concerts, or other events and consists of a field or stage either partly or completely surrounded by a structure designed to allow spectators to stand or sit and view the event.)Pausanias noted that for about half a century the only event...
in Perth
Perth, Scotland
Perth is a town and former city and royal burgh in central Scotland. Located on the banks of the River Tay, it is the administrative centre of Perth and Kinross council area and the historic county town of Perthshire...
, Scotland, the home ground of St. Johnstone FC. It has an all-seated capacity of 10,673.
History
St. Johnstone F.C. had played at Muirton ParkMuirton Park
Muirton Park was the second of three football grounds the Scottish football club St. Johnstone from Perth, Scotland, have occupied in their history...
since 1924, but it had fallen into disrepair by the 1980s. St. Johnstone was then a Second Division
Scottish Football League Second Division
The Scottish Football League Second Division is the second highest division of the Scottish Football League and the third highest overall in the Scottish football league system....
club and did not have the funds to repair it. In December 1986, however, the club received the news that ASDA
ASDA
Asda Stores Ltd is a British supermarket chain which retails food, clothing, general merchandise, toys and financial services. It also has a mobile telephone network, , Asda Mobile...
wanted to purchase Muirton Park and the adjoining ice rink to build a supermarket on the site. In return, the club would be relocated, at no cost to them, to a brand-new stadium at the western edge of the city. A local farmer, Bruce McDiarmid, donated 16 acres of land on which the stadium now stands. The going rate for the land at that time would have been approximately £400,000 but Bruce McDiarmid saw a donation of his "berry and barley fields" as a gift to the people of Perth. It was at the insistence of St. Johnstone that he accepted a 20 per cent shareholding and the title of honorary president of the football club. The Taylor Report
Taylor Report
The Hillsborough Stadium Disaster Inquiry report, better known as the Taylor Report is a document, whose development was overseen by Lord Taylor of Gosforth, concerning the aftermath and causes of the Hillsborough disaster in 1989. An interim report was published in August 1989, and the final...
noted that there had been a happy "confluence of factors" that allowed St. Johnstone to make this development.
The stadium was designed by Percy Johnson-Marshall
Percy Johnson-Marshall
Percy Edwin Alan Johnson-Marshall CMG was a British urban designer, regional planner and academic. Born in India, he was educated at Liverpool University, and worked initially with local authorities in the south of England...
and built by Miller Construction. The stadium was a prototype
Prototype
A prototype is an early sample or model built to test a concept or process or to act as a thing to be replicated or learned from.The word prototype derives from the Greek πρωτότυπον , "primitive form", neutral of πρωτότυπος , "original, primitive", from πρῶτος , "first" and τύπος ,...
and based on legislative advice that was soon to become out of date, but a good facility was built for a reasonable cost. Work started on the Tulloch
Tulloch, Perth and Kinross
Tulloch is a residential area of Perth, Scotland, approximately north-west of the centre of Perth.The main access road to Tulloch, from the east or west, is Tulloch Road, reached via the Crieff Road , which bounds it to the south. It is also accessible, albeit less directly, from the Dunkeld Road...
farmland donated by Bruce McDiarmid in December 1988 and was finished by the following August in time for the start of the 1989–90 season. Although McDiarmid Park was opened after the Hillsborough disaster
Hillsborough disaster
The Hillsborough disaster was a human crush that occurred on 15 April 1989 at Hillsborough, a football stadium, the home of Sheffield Wednesday F.C. in Sheffield, England, resulting in the deaths of 96 people, and 766 being injured, all fans of Liverpool F.C....
, all of the planning and most of the construction work had been done beforehand. Lord Justice Taylor
Peter Taylor, Baron Taylor of Gosforth
Peter Murray Taylor, Baron Taylor of Gosforth PC was the Lord Chief Justice of England from 1992 until his premature retirement in 1996, due to poor health which led to his death the following year.-Family:...
visited the ground as part of his inquiry into the disaster.
The first match at McDiarmid Park was played on 19 August 1989, a 2–1 victory for Saints in a First Division
Scottish Football League First Division
The Irn-Bru Scottish Football League First Division Championship is the highest division of the Scottish Football League and the second highest in the Scottish football league system....
match against Clydebank
Clydebank F.C.
Clydebank Football Club are a Scottish football club based in the town of Clydebank, West Dunbartonshire, near Yoker. The present club, formed in 2003, is a member of the Scottish Junior Football Association, and currently plays in West Super League Premier Division...
. This league fixture on the opening day of the season was deliberately kept low-key as a glamour challenge match had been arranged for the official opening. On 17 October 1989, St. Johnstone lined up against English club Manchester United
Manchester United F.C.
Manchester United Football Club is an English professional football club, based in Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, that plays in the Premier League. Founded as Newton Heath LYR Football Club in 1878, the club changed its name to Manchester United in 1902 and moved to Old Trafford in 1910.The 1958...
, who brought a full strength side to Scotland. The Manchester United team, managed by former St. Johnstone player Alex Ferguson
Alex Ferguson
Sir Alexander Chapman "Alex" Ferguson, CBE is a Scottish association football manager and former player, currently managing Manchester United, where he has been in charge since 1986...
, included Jim Leighton
Jim Leighton
James "Jim" Leighton MBE is a Scottish former football goalkeeper. Among the clubs he played for are Aberdeen , Manchester United, Arsenal, Dundee and Hibernian.-Club:...
, Steve Bruce
Steve Bruce
Stephen Roger "Steve" Bruce is an English football manager and former player. Born in Corbridge, Northumberland, he was a promising schoolboy footballer but was rejected by a number of professional clubs. He was on the verge of quitting the game altogether when he was offered a trial with Gillingham...
, Gary Pallister
Gary Pallister
Gary Andrew Pallister is an English former footballer, most noted for his nine-year spell at Manchester United from 1989 until 1998...
, Bryan Robson
Bryan Robson
Bryan Robson OBE is an English football manager and a former player. He is best known for playing in midfield for Manchester United, where he was the longest serving captain in club history. He was the manager of Sheffield United, being relieved of his first team duties at the club in February 2008...
, Paul Ince
Paul Ince
Paul Emerson Carlyle Ince is an English football manager and a former professional player. He has managed Blackburn Rovers, Milton Keynes Dons and Macclesfield Town...
, Brian McClair
Brian McClair
Brian John McClair is a former Scottish international football player who played as a forward, notable for his near 11-year spell at Manchester United, as well as important tenures at Scottish clubs Celtic and Motherwell...
, Mark Hughes
Mark Hughes
Leslie Mark Hughes, OBE , is a former Welsh international footballer. As an international footballer, he made 72 appearances and scored 16 goals....
and Lee Sharpe
Lee Sharpe
Lee Stuart Sharpe is an English former footballer. Predominantly a left winger, Sharpe joined Manchester United from Torquay United as a youngster in 1988, playing for the club up until 1996...
. McClair scored the only goal of the game, in front of a near capacity (9,780) crowd. The legendary Sir Matt Busby and Bobby Charlton
Bobby Charlton
Sir Robert "Bobby" Charlton CBE is an English former professional football player, a member of the England team who won the World Cup and Ballon d'Or for European Footballer of the Year in 1966...
were also in attendance. With just 30 minutes played of the match, the stadium was temporarily plunged into darkness caused by a fault at an electricity substation. Although the stadium's emergency generators were able to provide lighting in the stands, it was 23 minutes before play was resumed.
St. Johnstone enjoyed great success when the stadium first opened. The club won promotion to the Premier Division
Scottish Football League Premier Division
The Scottish Football League Premier Division was, from 1975 until 1998, the top division of the Scottish Football League and the entire Scottish football league system...
in their first season at McDiarmid. In the first season back in the top flight, the average attendance at McDiarmid was 6,000, approximately three times what it had been at Muirton. These high attendances led the club to create space for another 600 seats, raising the capacity to over 10,700. A record home attendance of 10,721 was set by a home game against Rangers
Rangers F.C.
Rangers Football Club are an association football club based in Glasgow, Scotland, who play in the Scottish Premier League. The club are nicknamed the Gers, Teddy Bears and the Light Blues, and the fans are known to each other as bluenoses...
on 26 February 1991. McDiarmid Park also hosted matches of the Scotland under-21 team
Scotland national under-21 football team
The Scotland national under-21 football team, controlled by the Scottish Football Association, is Scotland's national under 21 football team and is considered to be a feeder team for the Scotland national football team....
and the Scotland women's national team
Scotland women's national football team
The Scotland women's national football team represents Scotland in international women's football. They have yet to qualify for the final stages of the World Cup or European Championships and are currently ranked 23rd in the world and 14th in Europe....
. By the mid-1990s, however, attendances had drifted down to below 4,000, although this was still nearly double what they had been at Muirton.
In 2011, plans to demolish the 2,000 capacity North Stand were publicised. This would allow Perth and Kinross Council
Perth and Kinross Council
Perth and Kinross Council is the local government council for the Perth and Kinross council area of Scotland. It employs nearly 5000 employees.The council was created in 1996, under the Local Government etc...
to build a commuter link road from the neighbouring A9 road into Perth. St. Johnstone chairman Geoff Brown justified the proposal on the grounds that comparable clubs, such as Inverness
Inverness Caledonian Thistle F.C.
Inverness Caledonian Thistle Football Club are a Scottish football club from Inverness who compete in the Scottish Premier League. They are currently managed by Terry Butcher and assistant manager Maurice Malpas...
and St. Mirren
St. Mirren F.C.
St Mirren Football Club are a Scottish professional football club based in Paisley, Renfrewshire who play in the Scottish Premier League, having been promoted from the First Division in 2005–06.St...
, have since built grounds with smaller capacities.
Structure and facilities
Muirton Park
Muirton Park was the second of three football grounds the Scottish football club St. Johnstone from Perth, Scotland, have occupied in their history...
. The club also tried to retain the square goalposts used at Muirton, but the timber frames could not be re-erected.
The South Stand is named the Ormond Stand, after Willie Ormond
Willie Ormond
William 'Willie' Esplin Ormond OBE was a Scottish football player and manager. As a player, Ormond was well known as one of Hibernian's Famous Five forward line, winning three league championships in the late 1940s and early 1950s. He then returned to prominence as a manager, first with a...
, a successful manager of St. Johnstone who left the club in 1973 to manage Scotland
Scotland national football team
The Scotland national football team represents Scotland in international football and is controlled by the Scottish Football Association. Scotland are the joint oldest national football team in the world, alongside England, whom they played in the world's first international football match in 1872...
. The Ormond Stand also houses the club's souvenir shop, which is only open on match days before and after the match. It was formerly nominated as a "family stand", for home fans and fans of the visiting club to sit together. The club has a number of options for housing visiting fans. Visiting supports of a few hundred or less are housed in a segregated section at the north end of the main stand, with the two end stands closed. Clubs who regularly bring a larger support are also allocated the North Stand. If a very large visiting support is expected the club has a further option to also open the Ormond Stand for away fans.
Being a prototype stadium, McDiarmid Park has some faults that critics of seated stadia picked upon. Spectators in the front rows of the stands are not necessarily sheltered, while the stadium has been criticised for lacking atmosphere. St. Johnstone also attracted criticism for charging visiting supporters more than away supporters, a practice that became commonplace.
Rugby Union
Professional rugby unionRugby union
Rugby union, often simply referred to as rugby, is a full contact team sport which originated in England in the early 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand...
side Caledonia Reds
Caledonia Reds
Caledonia Reds were a Scottish rugby union district team who participated in the precursor to the Celtic League and in two seasons of the Heineken Cup. They represented one of four districts of Scotland, covering the North and Midlands Caledonia Reds were a Scottish rugby union district team who...
played some of their home games at McDiarmid Park before they were merged with the Glasgow Warriors
Glasgow Warriors
The Glasgow Warriors, formerly Glasgow Rugby, are one of two professional rugby union teams in Scotland, Edinburgh being the other. They play in the RaboDirect Pro12 and their home ground is Firhill Stadium, also the home of Partick Thistle Football Club.-History:Glasgow Rugby were created to...
in 1998. The merged Warriors initially played some of their 1999 games in Perth, but eventually switched all home games to Glasgow
Glasgow
Glasgow is the largest city in Scotland and third most populous in the United Kingdom. The city is situated on the River Clyde in the country's west central lowlands...
.
On 13 November 2004 the Scotland national rugby union team
Scotland national rugby union team
The Scotland national rugby union team represent Scotland in international rugby union. Rugby union in Scotland is administered by the Scottish Rugby Union. The Scotland rugby union team is currently ranked eighth in the IRB World Rankings as of 19 September 2011...
played Japan
Japan national rugby union team
The Japan national rugby union team represent Japan in international rugby union competitions. Japan is traditionally the strongest rugby union power in Asia but has both enjoyed and endured mixed results against non-Asian teams over the years...
there in a historic first test match north of the River Forth
River Forth
The River Forth , long, is the major river draining the eastern part of the central belt of Scotland.The Forth rises in Loch Ard in the Trossachs, a mountainous area some west of Stirling...
. The result was a 100–8 scoreline in favour of Scotland, the first time the Scottish rugby team had scored a century. Chris Paterson
Chris Paterson
Chris Paterson is a Scotland internationalist who plays for RaboDirect Pro12 side Edinburgh Rugby. He is Scotland’s record cap and points holder with 109 caps and 809 points. Paterson is capable in a range of positions, including fullback, wing and fly-half. In recent years Paterson has played...
scored 40 points (three tries, 11 conversions and one penalty).
The stadium has hosted several of Scotland's "A" team: a victory over Italy in 1999, a draw over Argentina in 1999, a win against Samoa in 2000, and a loss to Italy in 2003. On 21 November 2006, Scotland "A" faced Australia
Australia national rugby union team
The Australian national rugby union team is the representative side of Australia in rugby union. The national team is nicknamed the Wallabies and competes annually with New Zealand and South Africa in the Tri-Nations Series, in which they also contest the Bledisloe Cup with New Zealand and the...
in Perth, their first appearance on home soil in three years.http://www.stjohnstonefc.co.uk/newsitem.asp?NewsID=1817 On 23 February 2007, Scotland "A" hosted Italy
Italy national rugby union team
The Italy national rugby union team represent the nation of Italy in the sport of rugby union. The team is also known as the Azzurri . Italy have been playing international rugby since the late 1920s, and since 2000 compete annually in the Six Nations Championship with England, France, Ireland,...
at McDiarmid Park.
Non-sporting usage
The stadium hosts the Scottish convention of Jehovah's WitnessesJehovah's Witnesses
Jehovah's Witnesses is a millenarian restorationist Christian denomination with nontrinitarian beliefs distinct from mainstream Christianity. The religion reports worldwide membership of over 7 million adherents involved in evangelism, convention attendance of over 12 million, and annual...
, which brings thousands of worshippers to the local area every summer. In July 2009, a mass baptism
Baptism
In Christianity, baptism is for the majority the rite of admission , almost invariably with the use of water, into the Christian Church generally and also membership of a particular church tradition...
was held, which included the use of a 33 feet (10.1 m) pool. Over 8,000 people attended the three-day event. On 6 July 2008, Elton John
Elton John
Sir Elton Hercules John, CBE, Hon DMus is an English rock singer-songwriter, composer, pianist and occasional actor...
became the first musician to play at the stadium.
