FC Edinburgh / Meadowbank Stadium shambles

[XB52]

The indoor sports areas are much better than the old Meadowbank but there is no way that 'stadium' is suitable for football 

[andi17]

Remember when Dumfermline were demoting us fek thum

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Edited August 7, 2022 by andi17

[andi17]

Just now, andi17 said:

Remember when Dumfermline were demoting us fek thum

 

 

Just now, andi17 said:

Remember when Dumfermline were demoting us fek thu

m

 

Edited August 7, 2022 by andi17

[HamishMcGonagall]

I think there has been talk of another stand being built on the opposite side of the pitch to the current one, with covered seating and standing sections.

 

Only putting in 3 rows in the new stand is ridiculous though. 

[Shanks said no]

1 hour ago, Holyrood_Hearts said:

Was that not Edinburgh Rugby?

I honestly thought a football club was mentioned playing there, mainly because I thought "its our manor, they can f off"

[Costanza]

3 hours ago, stirlo said:

 

But judging on the photos of yesterday's game there is a serious shortage of seats. What's more, Edinburgh used to hold high class athletics meetings. That's no longer a possibility. I'm sure I'm not the only person on here who will remember the night when Michael Johnson came within a whisker of breaking the world 200m record at Meadowbank.

 

Even leaving aside those points though, the new facility looks terrible from the outside. Absolutely no thought given to aesthetic. It's an embarrassment.

19.85. I remember it vividly; was awestruck seeing him run that. Still one of my favourite ever sporting memories.

[All roads lead to Gorgie]

That's a terrible design for any sort of spectating! I watched it being built from the main road side and just assumed there were a similar amount of seats on the other side to the old stand it replaced. If City club of whatever they're called come up the divisions they will have to play somewhere else. I thought sharing with Spartans was fine, I don't know why that had to end.

[stirlo]

31 minutes ago, Costanza said:

19.85. I remember it vividly; was awestruck seeing him run that. Still one of my favourite ever sporting memories.

 

Amazing to think that was over 30 years ago (1990). It's also worth remembering that at that stage  Pietro Mennea's world record had already stood for over 10 years and wasn't broken until 1996 - by Johnson.

 

But back then it was not unusual to see world class athletes at Meadowbank. What a sad sight it is after this recent 'redevelopment'.

 

[AWM]

43 minutes ago, stirlo said:

 

Amazing to think that was over 30 years ago (1990). It's also worth remembering that at that stage  Pietro Mennea's world record had already stood for over 10 years and wasn't broken until 1996 - by Johnson.

 

But back then it was not unusual to see world class athletes at Meadowbank. What a sad sight it is after this recent 'redevelopment'.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yQVySlkOqfQ&t=82s

[AWM]

 

[heartgarfunkel]

1 hour ago, Costanza said:

19.85. I remember it vividly; was awestruck seeing him run that. Still one of my favourite ever sporting memories.

What a runner - long back, thighs like tree trunks, outrageously fast foot speed, I’ll never forget seeing that. 

[heartgarfunkel]

12 minutes ago, AWM said:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yQVySlkOqfQ&t=82s

Thanks for that - ****ing outrageous! 😆

[Costanza]

8 minutes ago, heartgarfunkel said:

What a runner - long back, thighs like tree trunks, outrageously fast foot speed, I’ll never forget seeing that. 

Yeah that upright style was so different. The fact he was equally good at 400m was ridiculous really 

[Saint Jambo]

A like-for-like replacement of the stand wasn't going to be enough to win hosting rights for any major athletics championships in this day and age. Spending millions on a stand in the hope of hosting a one off athletics event would have been crazy. The idea of spending millions of public money building a stand for a lower league football team with less than 100 season ticket holders would have been grossly irresponsible.

 

If FC Edinburgh want a ground with a better stand they will either have to pay for it themselves or find someone to ground share with. No reason that should be the responsibility of Edinburgh tax payers.

[heartgarfunkel]

3 minutes ago, Costanza said:

Yeah that upright style was so different. The fact he was equally good at 400m was ridiculous really 

Incredible athlete, as you say, equally good at both distances despite having the build for 60/100/200. 

[Newton51]

The new meadowbank is so tinpot. Facilities in the Michael Johnson video are better back then. Least terracing behind goal.

[Chuck Berry]

6 minutes ago, Saint Jambo said:

A like-for-like replacement of the stand wasn't going to be enough to win hosting rights for any major athletics championships in this day and age. Spending millions on a stand in the hope of hosting a one off athletics event would have been crazy. The idea of spending millions of public money building a stand for a lower league football team with less than 100 season ticket holders would have been grossly irresponsible.

 

If FC Edinburgh want a ground with a better stand they will either have to pay for it themselves or find someone to ground share with. No reason that should be the responsibility of Edinburgh tax payers.

 

Forget football for a second, shouldn't ECC have at least rebuilt it to a standard to hold national athletics meetings, not like-for-like with what it replaced, but at least to a standard to enable Edinburgh to host these meetings? I believe they can't.

[Saint Jambo]

9 minutes ago, Chuck Berry said:

 

Forget football for a second, shouldn't ECC have at least rebuilt it to a standard to hold national athletics meetings, not like-for-like with what it replaced, but at least to a standard to enable Edinburgh to host these meetings? I believe they can't.

 

Not convinced. Have you been to a Scottish Championship recently? The last one I attended had spectator numbers that was basically friends and family of those competing. I'm not convinced millions of pounds to be able to hold events at that level would be justifiable.

 

There is a stadium that can host those championship at Grangemouth, 45minutes drive away. The country has various sports facilities gaps. I'm not convinced that an athletics spectator venue in Edinburgh is one of them.

[Chuck Berry]

1 minute ago, Saint Jambo said:

 

Not convinced. Have you been to a Scottish Championship recently? The last one I attended had spectator numbers that was basically friends and family of those competing. I'm not convinced millions of pounds to be able to hold events at that level would be justifiable.

 

There is a stadium that can host those championship at Grangemouth, 45minutes drive away. The country has various sports facilities gaps. I'm not convinced that an athletics spectator venue in Edinburgh is one of them.

 

If you're starting from scratch then you may be right, but when you already have a facility that can host major meets, and you demolish and replace it with, well, nothing really then that's removing facilities.

 

If you've been to Grangemouth recently, then Meadowbank pre-development was in far better condition. They got a new track for the 2014 CGames, but the stand isn't in good condition.

 

Scotland has no facility to host a large sized athletics meeting. Poor.

[queensferryjambo]

6 hours ago, davemclaren said:

That’s what happens when you partner with Hibs. 😎

 

When did that happen?

 

Didn’t Hibs have some partnership with Spartans as well that went pear shaped? 
 

Either way if that is the case **** Edinburgh City 😂

[Taffin]

It's a shame there's no stadium, have good memories of meadowbank but let's be honest it would likely have been a white elephant. Much better spending the money on good facilities for local residents imo.

 

[frankblack]

38 minutes ago, Taffin said:

It's a shame there's no stadium, have good memories of meadowbank but let's be honest it would likely have been a white elephant. Much better spending the money on good facilities for local residents imo.

 

 

This council isn't interested in what its residents want.

[Canscot]

6 hours ago, heartgarfunkel said:

What a runner - long back, thighs like tree trunks, outrageously fast foot speed, I’ll never forget seeing that. 

That must have been after he got his ass handed to him in a mano a mano race against Canada’s Donovan Bailey in a made for tv race. The guy thought he was all that and a bag of chips then got blitzed in thd 200m by Bailey😂😂

[Canscot]

Sorry. It was a 150m race to settle who was the fastest man.  
 

[luckydug]

9 hours ago, Saint Jambo said:

A like-for-like replacement of the stand wasn't going to be enough to win hosting rights for any major athletics championships in this day and age. Spending millions on a stand in the hope of hosting a one off athletics event would have been crazy. The idea of spending millions of public money building a stand for a lower league football team with less than 100 season ticket holders would have been grossly irresponsible.

 

If FC Edinburgh want a ground with a better stand they will either have to pay for it themselves or find someone to ground share with. No reason that should be the responsibility of Edinburgh tax payers.

Common sense at last. 

FC Edinburgh must have been aware of the spectator limitations when they decided to move back to Meadowbank. 

SPFL needs to withdraw permission to play there and make them

ground share with a suitable venue. 

[Hesh]

13 hours ago, Shanks said no said:

Was someone not meant to be moving to the wee rugby stadium next to Murrayfield or did I dream it?

Not a football team anyway 

[1971fozzy]

£47m for that 🤣🤣🤣🤣 

whoever greenlighted that should be investigated as that’s fraud.

Just when you think Edinburgh Council can’t get any worse they do this.

as well setting fire to £47m

[Malinga the Swinga]

20 minutes ago, 1971fozzy said:

£47m for that 🤣🤣🤣🤣 

whoever greenlighted that should be investigated as that’s fraud.

Just when you think Edinburgh Council can’t get any worse they do this.

as well setting fire to £47m

Just another charge to be held against the previous council of SNP & Greens. Their tenure was an absolute disaster for the city and thankfully they were booted out.

Meadowbank now little more than glorified community centre and not fit for top level football.

[A_A wehatethehibs]

8 hours ago, frankblack said:

 

This council isn't interested in what its residents want.

This. They’ve somehow spent £50m on a facility that looks to have cost at best £5m to build. 

[PapaShango]

Looks dreadful. Standing on grass bankings in 2022 to watch league footy. Absolute tin pot of a stadium and not fit for purpose. They would have been better sharing with Edinburgh Rugby than playing there. Imagine in the winter after it's been chucking it down. So much for trying to encourage fans to games, no one will pay to go and watch football there if they don't have to. 

[Sooks]

1 hour ago, 1971fozzy said:

£47m for that 🤣🤣🤣🤣 

whoever greenlighted that should be investigated as that’s fraud.

Just when you think Edinburgh Council can’t get any worse they do this.

as well setting fire to £47m

This one was more down to the people I am afraid ………… there was going to be a six thousand facility built at Sighthill but the public got all misty eyed about Meadowbank and petitioned and demonstrated until we were left with this

[Sooks]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/edinburgh_and_east/6302773.stm
 

https://www.planningresource.co.uk/article/666000/public-outcry-halts-sighthill-sport-plan
 

 

[Don Dan]

I worked on the original build of the Stadium. It’s so sad to see what has happened to it now. 

[SectionDJambo]

Edinburgh, the capital city of Scotland, now hasn't got the required facilities for an international athletics event or a concert venue that could host a 10,000+ attendance. Meanwhile, Glasgow has. Too expensive to finance.

However, there was no problem spending millions on a tram system that only goes into certain areas of the city, when Edinburgh already had a good public transport service by bus.

I'm glad it's not my money they're spending.

FC Edinburgh should never have been allowed to play home matches at the current Meadowbank. There's Junior clubs locally who have far better facilities. It won't take long for away fans to just not bother giving them their money by staying away.

[Greenbank2]

I'm not defending meadowbank here. You need to be aware that this is the result of the implementation of the pyramid structure which has seen many non-league and Junior teams admitted. There are stringent rules about what the League (and SFA - a license to play in the Scottish Cup is different) require for admission. These rules pay scant regard to fan experience and many seem like "jobsworth" woke rules eg. not being overlooked by a public thoroughfare (I'm guessing they have had to have Marionville road screened off) while stadia like Firhill and Tannadyce have flats overlooking the pitch! Edinburgh has a dearth of AFFORDABLE compliant facilities (Places like peffermill are for the University of Edinburgh and charge a fortune for 3rd party rental.)

 

Them's the consequences of the rules that the footballing community wanted.

[WageThief]

2 hours ago, SectionDJambo said:

Edinburgh, the capital city of Scotland, now hasn't got the required facilities for an international athletics event or a concert venue that could host a 10,000+ attendance. Meanwhile, Glasgow has. Too expensive to finance.

However, there was no problem spending millions on a tram system that only goes into certain areas of the city, when Edinburgh already had a good public transport service by bus.

I'm glad it's not my money they're spending.

FC Edinburgh should never have been allowed to play home matches at the current Meadowbank. There's Junior clubs locally who have far better facilities. It won't take long for away fans to just not bother giving them their money by staying away.

 

I suppose the people of Edinburgh can console themselves with the fact that small concert venues are far better and that international athletics is even worse than a stadium venue for a concert.

[All roads lead to Gorgie]

It will be interesting to see how Birmingham does post Commonwealth Games and how it uses and looks after its facilities. Edinburgh just got the paint brush out for the games in 86, not gaining anything new and just let things decay in the decades that followed. Glasgow at least built a modern velodrome which brings international competitions to that city.

Sorry to stray from the main topic, the football.

[Hmfc1965]

1 minute ago, All roads lead to Gorgie said:

It will be interesting to see how Birmingham does post Commonwealth Games and how it uses and looks after its facilities. Edinburgh just got the paint brush out for the games in 86, not gaining anything new and just let things decay in the decades that followed. Glasgow at least built a modern velodrome which brings international competitions to that city.

Sorry to stray from the main topic, the football.

We're there not some upgrades to Meadowbank for the 1986 games?

[Sooks]

Let us be honest here the good people of Edinburgh are total NIMBYs and they constantly whinge and moan about any one planning to build any thing decent and that is why we end up with crap like the new meadowbank instead 

[All roads lead to Gorgie]

1 minute ago, Hmfc1965 said:

We're there not some upgrades to Meadowbank for the 1986 games?

I think they put down a new track and upgraded some of the inside areas like the Badminton courts but they brought in temporary stands like those for the Tattoo instead of improving the old un-covered bench seating. The commie pool got a few tweaks but nothing major.

[Cruyff]

Meadowbank was better before they knocked it down and rebuilt it. Only ECC could make something worse than it was before.

[blairdin]

20 hours ago, Fort Vallance said:

That's one to discus later.

Bravo - the old days of Kickback, this post would have got all my rep. 

 

I'm on a train back from Birmingham, and having see the Alexander Stadium there is no way even a like for like Meadowbank modernisation could compete for top class athletics. Post Commonwealth Games minus temporary stands, it's a great facility for athletics. 

 

The new Meadowbank is ideal for community sports and club training/competitions, but not spectator events. I'm OK with that.

 

I don't understand how Edinburgh City have managed to sleepwalk into this mes, but it's entirely their mess to fix. I have no sympathy.  

Edited August 8, 2022 by blairdin

[Pasquale for King]

**** Dunfermline, their line of Hibs managers, owners and fans. **** FC Edinburgh too since they announced a strategic partnership with Hibs. 

[Chuck Berry]

3 hours ago, Greenbank2 said:

I'm not defending meadowbank here. You need to be aware that this is the result of the implementation of the pyramid structure which has seen many non-league and Junior teams admitted. There are stringent rules about what the League (and SFA - a license to play in the Scottish Cup is different) require for admission. These rules pay scant regard to fan experience and many seem like "jobsworth" woke rules eg. not being overlooked by a public thoroughfare (I'm guessing they have had to have Marionville road screened off) while stadia like Firhill and Tannadyce have flats overlooking the pitch! Edinburgh has a dearth of AFFORDABLE compliant facilities (Places like peffermill are for the University of Edinburgh and charge a fortune for 3rd party rental.)

 

Them's the consequences of the rules that the footballing community wanted.

 

How does the implementation of the Pyramid structure impact on how Meadowbank was rebuilt?  What's a "jobsworth woke rule"?

 

A Entry level SFA Licence is required to play in the SPFL and the Lowland League, there isn't a set of SPFL rules over and above this, and Licences don't just cover facilities. Cove Rangers play in the Championship with an Entry level licence. FC Edinburgh have an Entry level licence.

 

[stirlo]

1 hour ago, Sooks said:

Let us be honest here the good people of Edinburgh are total NIMBYs and they constantly whinge and moan about any one planning to build any thing decent and that is why we end up with crap like the new meadowbank instead 

 

The new Meadowbank would suggest we need to be more critical not less critical. I would challenge anyone to defend the 'architecture' of the new Meadowbank. It's an eyesore - but worst of all it's cost Edinburgh council tax payers the best part of £50 million! 

[Sooks]

4 minutes ago, stirlo said:

 

The new Meadowbank would suggest we need to be more critical not less critical. I would challenge anyone to defend the 'architecture' of the new Meadowbank. It's an eyesore - but worst of all it's cost Edinburgh council tax payers the best part of £50 million! 

No but the council had already managed to get funding from Sport Scotland and obviously the sale of Meadowbank would have contributed too for a six thousand capacity sports complex at Sighthill 

 

People moaned their tits off about it and instead they were forced to tart up Meadowbank instead

 

The Sighthill plan sounded and looked quality from the plans but sadly every time some one tries to bring something top class to this city the local get up in arms about it

[Nobreath]

That makes Central Park look almost acceptable.😬

[Taffin]

Does it look as bad as people are making out?

 

Wasn't finished last time I went I was up but was near enough there. I thought it looked similar to our main stand. Bland but inoffensive and pretty slick.

[stirlo]

2 minutes ago, Sooks said:

No but the council had already managed to get funding from Sport Scotland and obviously the sale of Meadowbank would have contributed too for a six thousand capacity sports complex at Sighthill 

 

People moaned their tits off about it and instead they were forced to tart up Meadowbank instead

 

The Sighthill plan sounded and looked quality from the plans but sadly every time some one tries to bring something top class to this city the local get up in arms about it

 

I agree that the Sighthill plan would have been preferable to what they've done - but the best option would have been a proper redevelopment of Meadowbank. Given how much they spent on Meadowbank I struggle to understand the end result.

[Sooks]

1 minute ago, stirlo said:

 

I agree that the Sighthill plan would have been preferable to what they've done - but the best option would have been a proper redevelopment of Meadowbank. Given how much they spent on Meadowbank I struggle to understand the end result.

I think although I am not totally sure that they had to reduce the capacity in order to fit all the internal improvements in to the existing foot print 

 

At Sighthill there was room for all the internal improvements and a six thousand covered seating provision