Edinburgh City play their first match as an SPFL club on Saturday 6th August when Forfar Athletic visit Meadowbank Stadium for a League 2 fixture. It is going to be a memorable day and for City’s current stadium it is a prodigal son like return to Scottish football which could never have been predicted when it hosted it’s last SFL game in the mid-1990’s.
Meadowbank Stadium was built for the 1970 Commonwealth Games, at a cost of £2.8 million. It was opened by Prince Edward, Duke of Kent on 2nd May 1970. The 1970 Games was one of the most successful in the history of the event.The 1986 Commonwealth Games were also held at Meadowbank, which became the first venue to host the Commonwealth Games twice. The 1986 Games suffered a financial deficit and were widely boycotted due to the support of the British Government for the apartheid regime in South Africa.
Meadowbank Thistle FC played at the stadium from 1974 until the club relocated to the new town of Livingston in West Lothian in 1995. Meadowbank was often cited as one of the worst stadiums used in the history of the Scottish Football League due to the lack of atmosphere in the ground. This was caused by the stadium having a capacity of 16,000, but Meadowbank typically attracted crowds of less than 1,000. Most fans were located on one side of the ground, while the running track created a great distance between the fans and the pitch.
The club also had to fit in around other things happening at the stadium.
Maybe the most bizarre incident was in the late 1970’s when the Scottish Horticultural show was booked into the main stand at Meadowbank Stadium for the whole of one Saturday during the football season forcing Meadowbank Thistle to play Cowdenbeath on the Friday night in a Scottish League match (football outside of Saturday and Wednesday was a very rare thing back then).
Cowdenbeath won 6-1 to inflict the worst home defeat of Meadowbank Thistle’s Scottish League career. On another occasion a midweek fixture in Division 2 with Stranraer attracted only 79 fans to the game as many of the Highland League clubs overlooked by the Scottish League picked up their national Scottish newspapers in disbelief. Elgin City (later elected to the Scottish League in 2000), Inverness Caley and Thistle (who had to merge to assure their Scottish League status) and others held a grudge for many years with the officials at West Regent Street, Glasgow over the decision to elect an Edinburgh side to Division 2 over ambitious northern outfits.
Meadowbank struggled to attract capital support away from Hibs and Hearts and similar to the days of the capital Jags Edinburgh City will have to contend with one of the big capital two being at home when they are hosting League 2 matches.
The Meadowbank Thistle story began in 1973/4 season when Scottish football announced the setting up of a new three division system for the Scottish League with the creation of a Premier League of 10 clubs and a 1st and 2nd Division of 14 teams each to replace a two division system of 18 and 19 clubs.
A new club was needed to make up the numbers and East of Scotland non-league club Ferranti Thistle, backed by the Edinburgh electronics giant, was voted into the 2nd Division but following a consultation with the Scottish League it was decided they should change their name to Meadowbank Thistle (sponsors names anywhere near a football club name a touchy subject back then) and move out of their City Park ground and into the more spacious Commonwealth Games Stadium. The Edinburgh Jags first season in the league was season 1974/5 in Division 2 (they finished second bottom) before the new three division system came in in season 1975/6 with Thistle starting in the bottom division.
Meadowbank Thistle announced their intention to leave the stadium and relocate to Livingston in 1995, when their lease expired. Their last game as Meadowbank Thistle was played in May 1995, although they continued to play at Meadowbank Stadium as Livingston until their new Almondvale Stadium was ready in November 1995. Edinburgh City FC moved into the stadium after Meadowbank left and they have since been joined by Leith Athletic (from the East of Scotland League). Hibs have also played some of their reserve team matches at Meadowbank.
Edinburgh City won the Lowland League last season and then faced a play off with the winners of the Highland League (Aberdeen side Cove Rangers) for the right to play bottom of League 2 East Stirlingshire for a place in League 2 of the SPFL with the losers of the two-legged tie going down to the Lowland League. City won 2-1 on aggregate to demote Shire and bring a new team into the SPFL.
The capital club do have plans for a new stadium as the future of Meadowbank Stadium is now in doubt (it might even be demolished soon) so it’s unlikely City will play more than two more seasons in the facility which once also hosted Edinburgh Pro 12 / Celtic League rugby matches for a couple of years.
It’s going to be difficult for Edinburgh City to make a dent in the Edinburgh football scene, just as it was for Meadowbank Thistle, and City open their 2016/17 League 2 campaign on the same day as Hearts play Premiership Champions Celtic at Tynecastle and Hibs make the relatively short journey to take on Falkirk in the Championship game of the day.
Time will tell if Meadowbank will again be a White Elephant of Scottish League football or a lucky omen for the SPFL’s newest club.
The opening day fixture v Forfar will certainly bring football fans to Meadowbank from all over the UK for the birth of a new SPFL club and the re-birth of one of the strangest of Scottish League grounds.