24/42 - Ainslie Park, Edinburgh

23rd March 2019
Ground Number: 24
Ground: Ainslie Park, Edinburgh
Home of: Edinburgh City FC
Match: Edinburgh City V Peterhead
Score: 0-0
Attendance: 1057

Second against first in Scottish League 2. We are guaranteed goals right? Wrong! Turns out Edinburgh City and Peterhead are building their strong seasons on an equally strong defence and we would actually witness our second goalless match of the tour so far! More on that later though.

Ground 24 sees us back in Edinburgh to tick off Ainslie Park, the temporary home of Edinburgh City FC. The club usually call Meadowbank Stadium their home however as it's undergoing extensive redevelopment just now (and will be for at least another 18 months) it's Ainslie Park for us on the tour. If Meadowbank happens to be complete before we finish the tour we'll be sure to tick that one off too. 

As ever we had contacted the club before our visit today to get some information on parking, admission, pin badges etc and they replied swiftly and with the information we needed. The same cannot be said for every club so far so a thumbs up for that.

As previously mentioned it was a top of the table clash today and with no other games taking place in Edinburgh this weekend due to the international break Edinburgh City were expecting a bumper crowd. They weren't wrong. Over 1000 punters took in the game today and kick off was delayed as a result. We had, thankfully, arrived in plenty of time and found parking on nearby streets before walking up to the ground. Passing a nearby leisure centre you enter the "Spartans Community Football Academy" which is home to Ainslie Park. Entrance was a fair £12.00 today and we found a seat in the stand and took in our surroundings. En route we passed the Club Shop which stocked an impressive range of merchandise for a League 2 club including pin badges at £4.00 each.

The other three sides of the ground provided plenty of room for supporters who chose to stand although the far side, which is also home to the dugouts, wasn't in use today. Behind both goals were fairly busy today though what with the increased crowd. The Edinburgh City supporters sitting just along the stand from us created a fantastic atmosphere and they were constantly singing, dancing and beating their drums. It was great stuff. 

We were situated about 4 rows up in the stand and the view it offered us was fine. Any lower though and we feel as if our view may have been restricted by a) the pitch perimeter fence, b) the constant stream of supporters walking along the front of the stand and c) the supporters who choose to stand in front of the stand to watch the match. Something to bear in mind if you're going to be sitting in the stand here. 

Sadly the game didn't live up to much and considering these two teams are the best in the league it was tough to watch at times. It would be fair to say Peterhead had the best of the first half and the home side were on top for much of the second period. 

We can't report on the Ainslie Park pie as the food kiosk had run out of all hot food by half time. Not entirely unexpected given the size of the crowd today but still a bit disappointing that we couldn't sample it. Based entirely on looks as we enviously eyed up those lucky people who got hold of one we can report that it looked good! Should you be luckier than we were the food kiosk is located underneath a facilities building at the corner of the pitch nearest to the main entrance of the ground.

Ainslie Park in summary then. Very much the feel of a junior ground and fair enough as that's all it really is. Edinburgh City are simply temporary tenants here. The people we interacted with were friendly, the stand offered us a decent view of the game, the shop had a great range of merchandise and parking was free! The home fans created a great atmosphere and were sadly let down by the game itself. Special mention to the Peterhead fans who made the long journey south too. Only a sixth draw for us on the tour and just a second goalless one. Ground 24 done. 18 to go.

Where next I wonder?