16/42 - Balmoor Stadium, Peterhead

6th October 2018
Ground Number: 16
Ground: Balmoor Stadium, Peterhead
Home of: Peterhead FC
Match: Peterhead V Elgin City
Score: 3-0
Attendance: 681

Ground number 16 sees us head into the Arctic Circle (ok, Peterhead then) for the longest trip of the tour so far. 226 miles all in if you're wanting to be specific about it. As always I'd written ahead to the club and Peterhead could not have been more helpful. Nat Porter in particular was so welcoming and even invited us for a tour of the stadium pre-match. A huge thanks to the club and Nat for going that extra mile. It was really appreciated.

We arrived in Balmoor in time for our tour and reported to reception. Handily this is where the Club Shop is also located so whilst waiting on Nat we picked up a pin badge. £3.00. We were collected, along with a group of local school children, and off we went on the tour. First stop was the bar / trophy area and it was here we quickly learned that Nat is in fact an ex Peterhead player and a bit of local legend. We were ashamed to admit we weren't aware of this beforehand!

From here it was on to the dressing rooms and it was here we got the chance to say hello to Jim McInally, the Peterhead manager. Being Dundee United fans you can imagine this was a bit of a thrill to meet the United legend. From there we were taken out the tunnel and onto the Balmoor pitch. It's a lovely wee ground with almost identical stands at each side of the pitch. The seating areas are raised up giving a great view of the action wherever you sit. Behind each goal are open areas with standing room but no actual terracing. The Main Stand houses the stadium facilities, dugouts etc.

Being the geeks we are we obviously got photos in the dug outs before it was onwards to the impressive hospitality areas behind the scenes here at Balmoor. We also got inside the Boardroom which houses the Clubs most prized possessions.

And with that our pre-match tour of Balmoor was over. It was a lovely gesture from the Club and really appreciated. Nat's passion for the Club is clear and he shared some wonderful stories with us about his time at the Club and his role now. He took great care of us and we extend a huge thanks to him.

We were back at the stadium an hour or so later for the real action, a match against Elgin City.

We were housed in the Main Stand with the home supporters with tickets here costing £14.00. With the match underway the home side were immediately dominant and it was clear to see, even this early in the season, why they are one of the favourites for the title. They moved the ball around well and were duly rewarded just before half time when they took the lead through ex United man Ryan Dow. It was also great to see the Jim McLean-esque management qualities in McInally who was fiercely contesting every decision on the touch line.

Half time then and it's off to the snack bar and if there's one area that let Peterhead down it was their pie. It wasn't bad, but sadly it just wasn't very good either. A bit soggy, filling not great. 6/10.

The second half brought more joy for The Blue Toon and an early goal effectively settled the game. A third followed late on to add some gloss to the score. A deserved win for the home side as Elgin City offered little today.

That was Balmoor Stadium then. We loved our day out and enjoyed our tour behind the scenes. A club that was genuinely interested in what we were doing and wanted to help us out. We hope they go on to the achieve the promotion they are seeking. Final note: free parking here. ;)