Tynecastle Park

Coordinates: 55°56′21″N 3°13′56″W / 55.93917°N 3.23222°W / 55.93917; -3.23222
Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
(Redirected from
Tynecastle Stadium
)
This article is about the Scottish football stadium. For the East of Scotland League football club, see Tynecastle F.C.

Tynecastle Park
Tynie
View of Tynecastle Park, looking towards the Gorgie Stand (January 2018)
UEFA
Tynecastle Park is located in the City of Edinburgh council area
Tynecastle Park
Tynecastle Park
Location in Edinburgh
Former namesTynecastle Stadium (c.1996–2017)
LocationGorgie, Edinburgh, Scotland
Coordinates55°56′21″N 3°13′56″W / 55.93917°N 3.23222°W / 55.93917; -3.23222
OwnerHeart of Midlothian F.C.
Capacity19,852[1][2]
SurfaceHybrid
Construction
Opened10 April 1886
Renovated1994–1997, 2017
ArchitectJim Clydesdale[3][4]
Tenants
Heart of Midlothian F.C.
1886–present

Tynecastle Park, also known as Tynecastle Stadium, is a football stadium in the Gorgie area of Edinburgh, which is the home ground of Scottish Professional Football League club Heart of Midlothian (Hearts). A UEFA category four stadium,[5] it has also hosted Scotland international matches, and been used as a neutral venue for Scottish Cup and Scottish League Cup semi-finals.

Tynecastle has a seating capacity of 19,852,[2] which makes it the sixth-largest football stadium in Scotland. Hearts have played at the present site of Tynecastle since 1886.

History

See also: Heart of Midlothian F.C. § History

Heart of Midlothian

After

friendly against Bolton Wanderers to inaugurate their new home on 10 April 1886.[6][7][8] Tynecastle staged its first Scottish Football League match on 23 August 1890, when Hearts lost 5–0 to Celtic.[7]

Hearts won the

Tottenham Hotspur 3–1.[12]

Redevelopment

Tynecastle underwent substantial changes in the early twentieth century. A small stand and pavilion were built in 1903.

Percy Dawson to Blackburn Rovers for a British record transfer fee of £2,500.[9] A number of items were omitted from the first estimate of the stand, which meant that its cost doubled to £12,000.[6][13]

Hearts purchased the ground in 1926.

Second World War halted these schemes, however.[6]

The terraces were concreted in 1951 and Tynecastle became Scotland's first all-concrete stadium in 1954.

Dave Mackay for £32,000 to Tottenham Hotspur.[14]

No further changes were made to Tynecastle until stricter ground safety regulations came into effect in the 1970s.[6] Hearts also lacked the finances to redevelop Tynecastle, as the club were relegated from the Premier Division three times in five seasons in the late 1970s and early 1980s.[6] Hearts began to perform better under the ownership of Wallace Mercer, who took control in 1981.[6] The capacity was cut to 29,000 with the installation of benches on the "distillery" covered terrace and in the Main Stand paddock in 1982 and 1985 respectively.[6] Also around this time, lounges and facilities were installed in the Main Stand.[6]

Safety upgrades

The Gorgie and Wheatfield stands at dusk

The Taylor Report required all major sports grounds to become all-seated by August 1994.[15] Hearts initially entered discussions with Hibernian and the local authorities, but none of the sites suggested were suitable for all parties.[6] In March 1991, Hearts submitted their own proposal for a 30,000 all-seat stadium at Millerhill, in the south-east of Edinburgh.[6] The development would have also incorporated offices, a hotel, supermarket, restaurants and a business park.[6] The site was in the Edinburgh green belt, however, and the proposal was rejected later in 1991.[15] Hermiston was then suggested as a possible site for a new Hearts stadium, but this fell through in December 1992 as it was also within the green belt area.[15]

The collapse of the Hermiston proposal forced Hearts to redevelop Tynecastle instead.[15] In 1994, the entire western and northern sides of the ground were demolished, allowing for the construction of the Wheatfield Stand that year[15] and the Roseburn Stand the following year.[16] Temporary 'bucket' seating was installed on the (southern) Gorgie Road end terracing.[15] That terracing was itself razed in 1997 and replaced by the Gorgie Stand.[17] During this period of redevelopment, the ground was officially renamed as Tynecastle Stadium.[8]

Sale and Hearts ownership

In 2004, then club

Cala Homes, a property development company.[19]

The sale was cancelled, however, when

Edinburgh City Council in February 2008. This development would have increased capacity to 23,000, but the proposal did not proceed due to the state of the club's finances.[21]

Redevelopment plans

The plans for redevelopment of the main stand were rekindled in December 2015, when Hearts owner Ann Budge said work on the new stand would commence as soon as possible.

Partick Thistle.[26][27]

Structure and facilities

The Archibald Leitch designed Main Stand, demolished in 2017
Redeveloped interior in 2024
stadium exterior in 2024

Tynecastle is an all-seated stadium, split into four sections known as the Gorgie Stand, Main Stand, Wheatfield Stand and Roseburn Stand. The Main Stand was rebuilt in 2017, replacing an older facility designed by noted football stadium architect

corner flag, forming an arch over the stand.[15] The stadium floodlights sit on top of the support towers, angled down towards the pitch, like the lighting rigs used at concerts.[15] The Wheatfield Stand, which seats just under 6,000 people, slopes at just under 34 degrees, the maximum angle permitted.[16] The Roseburn Stand (School End) was completed in August 1995 and cost £1.4 million to build.[16] The Roseburn Stand seated 3,676 when it was opened,[16] but 280 seats were removed from both it and the Gorgie Stand when the pitch was lengthened in 2005 to meet UEFA requirements.[17] The Gorgie Stand, which was completed in September 1997, contains the Gorgie Suite.[17]

Other uses

Other football matches

See also: Scotland national football team home stadium

Tynecastle has been a home venue for the Scotland national football team on nine occasions. It regularly played host to the British Home Championship match with Wales, which was considered to have the least box-office potential and was often played outside Glasgow. After the Second World War, however, the Scottish Football Association favoured playing all home matches at Hampden Park, unless exceptional circumstances prevented Scotland playing there. More recently, Tynecastle has become the home of the Scotland women's national football team.[28]

Tynecastle has been used as a neutral venue for domestic cup semi-finals on numerous occasions, most frequently when these games involve teams from the east or north-east of Scotland (such as Aberdeen, Dundee United or Hibernian). At one stage during the 1920s, Tynecastle hosted a Scottish Cup semi-final in four consecutive years. In total 19 Scottish Cup semi-finals (not including replays) and 11 League Cup semi-finals have been staged at the ground.

However, since the advent of regular live television coverage caused semi-finals to be played at different times, it has been SFA policy to stage both Scottish Cup semi-finals at Hampden, where possible. League Cup semi-finals are still staged at smaller venues depending upon the participants. The last Scottish Cup semi-final hosted at Tynecastle was Aberdeen's defeat of Hibernian in 1992–93. The most recent League Cup semi-final was in 2015–16, when Hibernian won 2–1 against St Johnstone.

Tynecastle was a venue when Scotland hosted the 1989 FIFA U-16 World Championship. Initial group-stage matches were sparsely attended, however, on 20 June 1989, 28,555 spectators watched Scotland defeat a Portugal side containing Rui Costa and Luís Figo 1–0 in the semi-final. Scotland went on to lose the final to Saudi Arabia.

Full internationals

26 March 1892
1892 British Home Championship
Hamilton 8', 65'
McPherson 15', 44'
Baird
55'		 B Lewis Attendance: 1,200
Referee: J. Reid (Ireland)
3 March 1906
1906 British Home Championship
W Jones 50'
JL Jones 65'		 Attendance: 25,000
Referee: J. Lewis (England)
2 March 1912
1912 British Home Championship
Quinn
88'		 Attendance: 31,000
Referee: J. Mason (England)
14 February 1925
1925 British Home Championship
Meiklejohn 9'
Gallacher 20', 61'		 Williams Attendance: 25,000
Referee: A. Ward (England)
26 October 1932
1932 British Home Championship
Dewar 63'
Duncan 66'
O'Callaghan
Astley
 Attendance: 31,000
Referee: P. Harper (England)
13 November 1935
1935 British Home Championship
Walker 60'
Duncan
89'
Kelly
 Attendance: 30,000
Referee: H. Nattrass (England)
9 November 1938
1938 British Home Championship
Walker
83', 84'		 Astley
Jones 		Attendance: 34,800
Referee: T.J. Thompson (England)
10 October 1998
UEFA Euro 2000 qualification
Dodds 70', 85'
Hohlov-Simson 79' (o.g.)		 Report Hohlov-Simson 34'
Smirnov 76'		 Attendance: 16,930
Referee: Marques (Portugal)
27 May 2003
International Friendly
Crawford 11' Report Nelsen 47' Attendance: 10,016
Referee: Ingvarsson (Sweden)

Rugby league

The Gorgie ground has also hosted

1999 fixture between Gateshead Thunder and Wigan Warriors before a smaller crowd. The final and most recent came during the Rugby League World Cup between Scotland and Samoa
, which the Samoans won 20–12.

Music

On 2 August 2019, Tynecastle Park hosted the opening event of the 2019 Edinburgh International Festival.[29] The Los Angeles Philharmonic led by Gustavo Dudamel played a selection of Hollywood film scores, including Jurassic Park, Star Wars, E.T. and Jaws. Over 15,000 free tickets were issued and the concert was live-streamed on Facebook, and broadcast on Classic FM.

Theatre

The

North British Rubber Co. workers in its Fountainbridge factory, was performed at the 2021 Edinburgh Festival Fringe festival on a stage built on the stadium's main stand, with the pitch as its backdrop.[30][31]

References

  1. ^ McLean, David (21 June 2017). "Demolition of Tynecastle main stand nears completion". Edinburgh Evening News. Retrieved 6 December 2017.
  2. ^ a b "Tynecastle Park Safety Certificate, issued October 2018" (PDF). 31 October 2018.
  3. ^ a b c d "Tynecastle architect says £100,000 to fix stadium". The Scotsman. Johnston Press. 22 December 2004. Retrieved 2 November 2011.
  4. ^ Anderson, Barry (15 November 2016). "Hearts ready go to work on Tynecastle's new main stand". Edinburgh Evening News. Retrieved 3 December 2017.
  5. ^ "TYNECASTLE RATED IN TOP UEFA CATEGORY". Hearts of Midlothian. Retrieved 14 October 2023.
  6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z aa Inglis 1996, p. 447
  7. ^ a b c d e f "Tynecastle Stadium: 1874-1891". heartsfc.co.uk. Heart of Midlothian F.C. Archived from the original on 17 February 2012. Retrieved 3 November 2011.
  8. ^ a b c d e f "Tynecastle Park reinstated". Heart of Midlothian FC. 28 April 2017. Retrieved 28 April 2017.
  9. ^ a b c d e f "Tynecastle Stadium: 1892-1914". heartsfc.co.uk. Heart of Midlothian F.C. Archived from the original on 17 May 2012. Retrieved 3 November 2011.
  10. ^ a b "27 April 1895 Hearts 3 Sunderland 5". londonhearts.com. Retrieved 27 April 2013.
  11. ^ "World Champions!". roker-roar.com. Retrieved 27 April 2013.
  12. ^ "1902-01-02 Thu Hearts 3 Tottenham Hotspur 1". www.londonhearts.com.
  13. ^ a b c "Tynecastle Stadium: 1914-1949". heartsfc.co.uk. Heart of Midlothian F.C. Archived from the original on 17 May 2012. Retrieved 3 November 2011.
  14. ^ a b c d "Tynecastle Stadium: 1950-1980". heartsfc.co.uk. Heart of Midlothian F.C. Archived from the original on 17 May 2012. Retrieved 3 November 2011.
  15. ^ a b c d e f g h i Inglis 1996, p. 448
  16. ^ a b c d Inglis 1996, p. 449
  17. ^ a b c "Tynecastle Stadium: 1981-present". heartsfc.co.uk. Heart of Midlothian F.C. Archived from the original on 16 June 2013. Retrieved 3 November 2011.
  18. ^ Federation of Hearts Supporters Clubs Archived 16 February 2006 at the Wayback Machine
  19. ^ "Tynecastle sale to go through, but at what price?". The Scotsman. Johnston Press. 13 September 2004. Retrieved 2 November 2011.
  20. ^ "Romanov calls off sale of Tynecastle to Cala". The Scotsman. Johnston Press. 22 December 2004. Retrieved 2 November 2011.
  21. ^ "Hearts to stay at Tynecastle as new stand development stalls". Daily Record. 17 February 2009. Retrieved 2 November 2011.
  22. ^ "Hearts to stay at Tynecastle and increase capacity of stadium". BBC Sport. BBC. 24 March 2016. Retrieved 3 December 2015.
  23. ^ Anderson, Barry (15 November 2016). "Hearts ready go to work on Tynecastle's new main stand". Edinburgh Evening News. Retrieved 15 June 2017.
  24. ^ "Hearts unveil new plans for Gorgie". Edinburgh Evening News. 25 March 2016. Retrieved 24 March 2016.
  25. ^ "Hearts: Ann Budge backs Ian Cathro and insists Craig Levein does not pick team". BBC Sport. BBC. 13 April 2017. Retrieved 15 April 2017.
  26. ^ a b "Hearts: SPFL defends late Tynecastle decision as Partick Thistle seek review". BBC Sport. BBC. 20 November 2017. Retrieved 20 November 2017.
  27. ^ "Hearts v Partick Thistle: Tynecastle deemed safe to host game on Sunday". BBC Sport. BBC. 18 November 2017. Retrieved 19 November 2017.
  28. ^ "Tynecastle new home of Scotland Women's team". scottishfa.co.uk. Scottish Football Association. 20 September 2011. Retrieved 3 November 2011.
  29. ^ "Aberdeen Standard Investments Opening Event". Edinburgh International Festival. 29 August 2019. Retrieved 30 August 2019.
  30. ISSN 0261-3077
    . Retrieved 27 May 2023.
  31. ^ "Fringe drama recalling rise and fall of women's football to be staged at Tynecastle". The Scotsman. 30 June 2021. Retrieved 27 May 2023.
Sources

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Tynecastle Stadium.
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Tynecastle_Park&oldid=1218250694"