4/42 - Somerset Park, Ayr
14th April 2018
Ground Number: 4
Ground: Somerset Park, Ayr
Home of: Ayr United FC
Match: Ayr United v Stranraer
Score: 1-2
Attendance: 2323
It was a long one! Ground number 4 takes us all the way to Ayr and to Somerset Park, home of Ayr United FC. It was another new ground for both of us and to make things even more exciting Ayr could win the league today and with it promotion to the Championship! We actually lucked out getting tickets for this match today as a friend who works in Ladbrokes supplied them. So not only did we get in free but it was a massive game too. Win win! Have I mentioned yet that Ayr had a shop that was a) open and b) had pin badges? It felt like we had won the lottery today! Let's begin at the beginning though shall we?
It was gonna be a 200 mile round trip today but we don't mind that. David and I enjoy being on the road and it was a relatively straightforward drive down the A77 to the home of the Honest Men. Once again there's plenty on street parking close to the ground and given that we arrived in plenty of time we got a space no problem. Once again we had made the decision we were going to sit in the Main Stand today so a quick perimeter walk of the ground we found where we were meant to be. The atmosphere was buzzing. Ayr were going to win the league today. The script was written. Then we saw it. The oasis in our desert. The Ayr United club shop. And it was open! I could've cried. (Ok I accept this isn't Shakespeare but come on!)
Pin badge secured for a bargain £2.25 the club shop was a delight. Well stocked, a wide range of merchandise, friendly staff and directly opposite the entrance to the ground. What more could you ever want? Anyway, it was now time for the obligatory selfie and time to get inside Somerset Park.
I'll be honest. Getting into the ground was the easy part. After that well, frankly, it was like navigating The Crystal Maze! We had no idea where we were going. We just walked straight ahead and almost ended up on the pitch. Turns out there are stairs (hidden behind a door!) that take you up to the seats. Panic over we decided to grab food before the match so to the kiosk we went. It was standard stuff on offer and we were back to the pies. As far as we were aware Ayr was not famous for Bridies so did not therefore have any for sale. David rated the Ayr pie 8/10 and I think that was fair. It's one of the better ones we've experienced on the tour so far.
Our seats offered us a decent view of the action aside from a few pillars here and there. Covered terracing behind both goals and open terracing opposite the Main Stand completed Somerset Park. It turned out we had mistakenly joined the Stranraer fans in their section of the stand but a staircase separated us from the home fans so close enough!
Onto the match then. What an atmosphere. "Ayr Ayr super Ayr" rang around the ground. Well, it did for a total of 3 minutes which is precisely when Stranraer took the lead. This was not in the script! It was a feisty affair in this "Southwest Scotland derby" and Ayr were soon back in it and the title party was looking like it was back on! When did derbies stop becoming contests between two clubs from the same place by the way? The Dundee derby. The Old Firm derby. The Edinburgh derby. All perfectly fine. But the Tayside derby? The Lanarkshire derby? No. Just no.
Sorry, I digress. We soon had our first red card of the tour. Ayr's soon to be superstar striker Shankland dismissed for a crude looking challenge. Suddenly it was backs to the wall for Ayr but it took Stranraer until the 85th minute to grab the winner and even then it was only through a penalty. The champagne was on ice for another week.
Ground Number: 4
Ground: Somerset Park, Ayr
Home of: Ayr United FC
Match: Ayr United v Stranraer
Score: 1-2
Attendance: 2323
It was a long one! Ground number 4 takes us all the way to Ayr and to Somerset Park, home of Ayr United FC. It was another new ground for both of us and to make things even more exciting Ayr could win the league today and with it promotion to the Championship! We actually lucked out getting tickets for this match today as a friend who works in Ladbrokes supplied them. So not only did we get in free but it was a massive game too. Win win! Have I mentioned yet that Ayr had a shop that was a) open and b) had pin badges? It felt like we had won the lottery today! Let's begin at the beginning though shall we?
It was gonna be a 200 mile round trip today but we don't mind that. David and I enjoy being on the road and it was a relatively straightforward drive down the A77 to the home of the Honest Men. Once again there's plenty on street parking close to the ground and given that we arrived in plenty of time we got a space no problem. Once again we had made the decision we were going to sit in the Main Stand today so a quick perimeter walk of the ground we found where we were meant to be. The atmosphere was buzzing. Ayr were going to win the league today. The script was written. Then we saw it. The oasis in our desert. The Ayr United club shop. And it was open! I could've cried. (Ok I accept this isn't Shakespeare but come on!)
Pin badge secured for a bargain £2.25 the club shop was a delight. Well stocked, a wide range of merchandise, friendly staff and directly opposite the entrance to the ground. What more could you ever want? Anyway, it was now time for the obligatory selfie and time to get inside Somerset Park.
I'll be honest. Getting into the ground was the easy part. After that well, frankly, it was like navigating The Crystal Maze! We had no idea where we were going. We just walked straight ahead and almost ended up on the pitch. Turns out there are stairs (hidden behind a door!) that take you up to the seats. Panic over we decided to grab food before the match so to the kiosk we went. It was standard stuff on offer and we were back to the pies. As far as we were aware Ayr was not famous for Bridies so did not therefore have any for sale. David rated the Ayr pie 8/10 and I think that was fair. It's one of the better ones we've experienced on the tour so far.
Our seats offered us a decent view of the action aside from a few pillars here and there. Covered terracing behind both goals and open terracing opposite the Main Stand completed Somerset Park. It turned out we had mistakenly joined the Stranraer fans in their section of the stand but a staircase separated us from the home fans so close enough!
Onto the match then. What an atmosphere. "Ayr Ayr super Ayr" rang around the ground. Well, it did for a total of 3 minutes which is precisely when Stranraer took the lead. This was not in the script! It was a feisty affair in this "Southwest Scotland derby" and Ayr were soon back in it and the title party was looking like it was back on! When did derbies stop becoming contests between two clubs from the same place by the way? The Dundee derby. The Old Firm derby. The Edinburgh derby. All perfectly fine. But the Tayside derby? The Lanarkshire derby? No. Just no.
Sorry, I digress. We soon had our first red card of the tour. Ayr's soon to be superstar striker Shankland dismissed for a crude looking challenge. Suddenly it was backs to the wall for Ayr but it took Stranraer until the 85th minute to grab the winner and even then it was only through a penalty. The champagne was on ice for another week.
No smokers can leave here at half time by the way. At least that's what David was told. We did witness the en masse changing of ends at half time though here at Ayr and, frankly, it was a joy to behold. Watching an army of fans make the pilgrimage from behind one goal to behind the other goal is just something to see in life isn't it? Just me? Ok.
So it was our first away victory of the tour. Well done Stranraer, you defied the odds. You smashed our stats and you did it your own way. Ayr, they'd go onto get the title won but they didn't half make hard work of it. They're now flying high in the Championship too and (at the time of writing) above my Dundee United! Grrrrr.
A great day out though. A club with a great following, nice old school ground, decent food and a club shop that was open and had what we wanted. Should we just stop here!? Does it get any better?
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