Firs Park

In 1996, when architectural historian, writer and broadcaster (most notably about football and stadiums) Simon Inglis updated his fascinating book Football Grounds of Britain, he wrote the following about East Stirlingshire’s Firs Park. 

Tucked into an inaccessible corner of Falkirk, only a few hundred yards from Brockville, Firs Park is a monument both to illogicality and defiance. Formed in 1880, East Stirlingshire opened Firs Park in 1921. In 1964 the board moved the struggling club to Clydebank, but after only one season at New Kilbowie Park, shareholders won a legal battle to bring the club home. But not before Clydebank had spirited away the Enclosure roof and floodlights, both of which had to be replaced. The ground’s record gate of 11,500 came shortly after, v Hibs in 1968.

Since then, three sides of Firs Park have barely altered; still consisting of timber and shale terracing, with not a single barrier, and cover only opposite the Main Stand. But there have been changes outside, most noticeably behind the stand, where retail sheds have taken the place of a railway repair shed which once formed a giant black backdrop to Firs Park. Behind one goal are the works of Bison Concrete, where, ironically, many of the slabs used in new stands elsewhere have been fabricated.  

If any new stands are to be built for East Stirlingshire, they may be elsewhere too, perhaps on the site of Falkirk’s new complex. In the meantime, in order to cut losses, Shire’s ball boys earn 25p for retrieving any balls kicked out of the ground, while the club has had to sell land to survive. But for how long? In 1994 a supermarket tried to buy Firs Park, and Shire may find it hard to resist. And yet…when it came to building a new Main Stand in 1992, amazingly, Shire opted for almost a replica of the original (seating 297 in a capacity of just 1,880). Surely any club prepared to make such a public stand for tradition will not be easy to unseat, however much the real world closes in.

The Firs Park print used to illustrate this page is available directly from artist Bob Montgomery at:
Artists' Studios
1b Winchester Avenue
Denny
FK6 6QE

Mob: 07984 316818
Home: 01324 826861
http://www.bob-montgomery.co.uk/

or from the Shire shop in Grahams Road in Falkirk.

Print size:
23 x 18 cms
With frame: 31 x 36 cms
Price:
£25.00 unframed 
£45.00 framed