Falkirk F.C. - Stadiums

Stadiums

In the club's early years, Falkirk played its home games at three different sites: Hope Street, Randyford Park and Blinkbonny Park. The first pitch used by the club was on Hope Street, the location that would become Brockville Park in 1884. The first match at Hope Street was against Bonnybridge Grasshoppers. After one season, Falkirk moved to Randyford Park, the home of East Stirlingshire Cricket Club during the summer months, in 1878 was where the club played its first competitive match, which it won against Campsie Glen of Lennoxtown in the Scottish Cup. The ground was located near Forth Valley College, several hundred yards west of the present Falkirk Stadium. The club played at Blinkbonny Park between 1881 and 1883.

Between 1885 and 2003, Falkirk was based at Brockville Park, which was located a quarter of a mile (0.4 km) from the town centre of Falkirk. Brockville Park was largely terraced and had a capacity of between 7,500 and 8,000 spectators. On 21 February 1953, Falkirk's largest home attendance was recorded at the ground when 23,100 spectators watched the club play against Celtic in the third round of the Scottish Cup.

When the SPL was created in 1998, Brockville Park fell short of the SPL's stadium criteria, mainly because of the terraced stands. As a result, the club was denied entry to the league, despite winning the First Division or qualifying for a promotion play-off, on three occasions. Falkirk remained at the stadium until the last day of the 2002–03 football season, and in late 2003 Brockville was demolished and the site sold to supermarket chain Wm Morrison Supermarkets plc. To commemorate the club's time at the stadium, the supermarket displays Falkirk F.C. memorabilia, including a turnstile. For the 2003–04 season, Falkirk entered an agreement with Stenhousemuir F.C. to ground-share Ochilview Park stadium for one season while the club's new stadium was under construction.

Since the beginning of the 2004–05 season, the club has been based at Falkirk Stadium, a 9,200 capacity all-seater stadium built on the eastern outskirts of Falkirk. The stadium was opened in July 2004 with a friendly match against Dundee F.C.. When it opened, only the 4,200 capacity west stand was completed. The 2,000 capacity north stand was constructed during the opening season and was completed in May 2005, taking the stadium above the SPL's reduced 6,000 seating criterion. Falkirk became champions of the First Division that season and was promoted to the SPL. The stadium has since been further expanded; the south stand officially opened in a match against Royal Antwerp F.C. of Belgium in August 2009. The club's first team, future team and academy players train at the sports facilities at the University of Stirling.