VENUE #102 ST. JOHNSTONE McDiarmid Park

 McDIARMID PARK 

               Home Of:  St. Johnstone

   Ground Opened:  1989
  Previous Ground:  Muirton  Park

         Other Uses:  None

VENUE #102

NEAREST TRAIN STATION

     Perth Railway Station is nearly three miles away from McDiarmid Park, which is really too far to walk. Best bet is to grab a taxi.  You can also get a bus up to the stadium. Just walk straight down the road outside the railway station, for no more than 10 minutes. You will come to the Mill Street Interchange on the right, where from there you can get a number 2 bus direct to the ground for the princely sum of £3.10 return. Not only that, but the Mill Street interchange is right next to a large and welcoming pub, so it's guaranteed that the money you save on taxi fares is wisely invested.

McDIARMID PARK

     The ground was built in 1989, and replaced the former home of Muirton Park. The ground consists of four single tiered stands, that are covered and all seated. Three of the stands are of the same height, with the Main Stand at one side of the ground, being a little taller. Overall the ground has a tidy compact feel to it. There is an electric scoreboard situated in one corner of the ground.

      Away fans are primarily housed in the North Stand will be allocated where up to 2,000 fans can be accommodated. The facilities and view of the playing action are good in this area. For those games where the away side has a large travelling support then the Ormond Stand can also be allocated as well as part of the West (Main) Stand towards the North Stand. 

     For a number of games the Ormond Stand serves as a 'mixed' family stand which is open to both home and away supporters with young families. On occassions when the Ormond Stand is not available to away fans, then Family Tickets can be purchased for the relevant away stand. 

GROUND LAYOUT

 A   MAIN / WEST STAND

 B   NORTH STAND  (AWAY)

 C   EAST STAND

 D   SOUTH / ORMOND STAND

Today's Visitors  DUNDEE  brings the excitement of a local derby to McDiarmid Park with the Dees currently (before the match) in 10th place three places behind the Saints on 19 points and looking as though it's another relegation struggle for them this season.
   Last time out the Dees took on Celtic at Dens Park losing 2-0 to the league leaders.  James Forrest converted Kieran Tierney's low cross to give Celtic the lead in the 8th minute.  Leigh Griffiths wrapped things up two minutes before the break giving the Dees no chance of recovering anything.
   In the 28 years McDiarmid Park has been open Dundee have visited 29 times,

just over once for each year, the Dees have won 8 times losing 10 times with 11 draws. The first game between them here was a 4-4 draw on 2nd of December 1992.  On New Years day here 1997 there was an embarrassment here for the Dees losing 7-2.  Last time out here for these two here was on the 11th April 2015 with the Saints winning 1-0 with a goal from Brian Graham in the 26th minute.  

ST. JOHNSTONE ... 0   DUNDEE ... 2

     The Saints were all at six's and sevens throughout this game handing the Dees the three points.  It only took Dundee 3 minutes to open the scoring when some shoddy play by the home side led to a Dees attack in which Leitch-Smith flicked on a cross with his head to find Marcus Haber who smashed the ball between Zander Clark's legs into the net.

     It looked as though the Saints players had had a night on the lash prior to this game for going behind didn't inspire a spark of resilience just more reckless play which saw two dangerous challenges the first when Denny Johnstone flew in two footed on Glen Kamara which referee Willie Collum defined as a yellow card to the disgust of the Dundee supporters. 

     The second though produced a straight red from the said referee when Richard Foster's late high challenge which caught the knee of Paul McGowan made the official strive to cut out any more of St. Johnstone's bullying tactics.

     After the break the Saints manager Tommy Wright made changes to his side reducing them to 3 at the back and it seemed to be working with the home side producing some good football and pushing the Dees back into their own penalty area.  The wizardry of Stefan Scougall was a pleasure to watch as he ran the ball from his own half, his pace and trickery bemused the Dees midfield and defence but the ex- Sheffield United attacking midfielder was left to his own resources as team mates were unable keep up with fiery pace.

     St. Johnstone piled on the pressure for most of the second half but their reduced number began to show toward the end of the game and as Dundee scored early on in the game they made sure of the the points in the first minute of injury time when substitute Faissal El Bakhtaoui stole the ball in midfield and played A Jay Leitch-Smith through for the ex Crewe Alexandra striker to hit a 20 yard shot into Zander Clark's far corner of the net.   

                             MATCH DETAILS

VENUE #101 AYR UNITED Somerset Park

SOMERSET PARK STADIUM

                   Home Of:  Ayr United

      Ground Opened:  1888

     Previous Ground:  None

           Other Uses:  None

VENUE  #101

NEAREST RAILWAY STATION
     Ayr Railway Station is a ten minute walk away from Somerset Park. Exit the station through the back entrance (to the left as you come off the platform, over the footbridge) and turn left once outside. Walk up to the roundabout at the fire station, and go straight ahead at the roundabout, past the left hand side of the Civic Theatre. continue up this road (Craigie Road) to the traffic lights at the top. Go straight across again at this junction, then take a left and a right and you're there. Away fans walk to the left, behind the Main Stand.



SOMERSET PARK STADIUM
     Somerset Park is a classic traditional looking ground that is predominantly terracing. Only one side has a seating area, in the old Main Stand, part of which dates back to 1924. This stand is covered and the seated area is raised above pitch level. There are also a few supporting pillars which could impede your view. This stand was extended sideways in 1989. In front of the stand are some small sections of terracing, the team dugouts and a small conservatory type structure, that looked to be used by the Police. On the other side is a large open terrace that extends around the corners of the ground. This area is split between home and away fans, who are segregated by a large fence running down the middle of it. At the back of the home fans section is a strange concrete box like structure that looks to have been built behind the existing terrace. This appears to house a number of hospitality boxes that overlook the ground. 

     Both ends are quite similar looking, as they are of roughly the same size and both are covered terracing. The home end, the Somerset Road end is partly covered (to the rear) medium sized terrace, that has a row of supporting pillars running across the front of it. Away fans are located in the opposite end in the Railway Terrace. The ground is completed with a set of four modern floodlight pylons, one located at each corner of the ground.                For the majority of games away fans will be housed in the small standing enclosure in front of the Main Stand at one side of the pitch. For the bigger games against Partick Thistle & Morton then away fans will allocated the covered Railway End Terrace at one end of the ground, as well as some open terrace to either side of it. So visiting fans for these games have a choice as to whether to view the action from either an end or side of the pitch and unless there is a huge travelling support you will normally get a good view of the playing action. With the away end being covered, a relatively small number of away fans can really create some noise, adding to the atmosphere. There are two refreshment kiosks in the away section serving the usual array of pies, hot dogs & burgers. Unfortunately though there is only one set of toilets that are right by the entrance turnstiles to the away end. I would have to say that the men's urinals looked as if they dated back to when the ground opened. I did notice that parts of the open terrace had a fair few white blobs all over them, thanks to the large local population of seagulls. It may be an idea to make sure you wear a hat if you use the open terrace.

GROUND LAYOUT                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    

 A   MAIN STAND

 B   OPEN TERRACE

 C   RAILWAY END (AWAY)

 D   SOMERSET ROAD

Today's Visitors   QUEENS PARK are currently bottom of league one just a single point adrift of Forfar.   The Spiders finished mid-table last season after winning promotion in 2015/16 via the play-offs beating Clyde 3-2 on aggregate.

     Queens need to make a quick turn around this season or they'll be making a fast return to Scottish league football's lowest league a fate that the oldest Scottish league team would raver avoid at all cost. 

     In the last 35 years Queens have made 10 visits to Somerset Park winning only once, drawing three and losing six.  The game which they won was on the 11th August 2007 narrowly beating United 3-2 in a Scottish league one fixture in front of a crowd of 1265 people.  Andy McLaren opened the scoring for United but two minutes later and the Spiders were level Stuart Kettlewell hammering the ball home from close range.

     Ayr's goalscorer McLaren and Queens Richard Sinclair were both sent off for a skirmish in the Queens penalty area but both teams couldn't increase the scoreline before the half time whistle.

     It was twenty six minutes into the second half before the next goal was scored Stephen Canning lobbing the Ayr keeper McGeown from twenty yards but Deny Moore equalised for United with only six minutes left of normal time, 2-2.

     Alan Trouten grabbed the winner for Queens deep into injury time when McGeown punched the ball across his own penalty area straight to the Queens midfielder to knock the ball home from close range. 

     Last time out at Somerset Park was on the 4th of March 2009 a game that finished 1-1 Steven Odenewo opened the scoring for Queens with Ryan Borris equalising for United after 52 minutes.  James Brough was sent off for Queens in the 67th minute. 

AYR UNITED ... 3   QUEEN'S PARK ... 2

     Craig Moore put Ayr ahead from the penalty spot after 24 minutes, after Lawrence Shankland was brought down, but the visitors turned things around with goals either side of the break.

    Robbie Leitch headed home an equaliser in the 42nd minute before Queen's went ahead when Craig Reid turned the ball past his own goalkeeper Jordan Hart before the break.

     But Ayr rallied and Declan McDaid levelled after 79 minutes before Forrest struck the late winner.

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VENUE #100 SUNDERLAND Stadium Of Light

                                  STADIUM OF LIGHT                                                                  

     
              Home Of: Sunderland 

  Ground Opened: 1997         Previous Ground: Roker Park

         Other Uses: England                                             Internationals
                                 & Concerts



NEAREST RAILWAY STATION
     Sunderland Railway Station is located just under one mile away from the Stadium of Light and takes around 15-20 minutes to walk. You will exit the station opposite Greggs. Turn right out of the station heading up towards a JJB Sports store and walk through the gap between JJB and a nail bar to the right of JJB. Keep walking straight ahead and within 100m you will see the Stadium Of Light rising up in front of you over the Wearmouth Bridge. Simply cross the bridge, and turn left into Millennium Way, opposite the now closed Wheatsheaf pub.                                                                                                                 The Metro stations called the 'Stadium of Light' and 'St. Peters' both serve the stadium. The metro provides regular and rapid transport from both Newcastle and the South of Sunderland. Both stations are only a few minutes walk from the stadium, although away supporters should alight at St Peters Station as that is closer to their entrance. This provides an alternative to the regular rail services. Please note though that after the game the Stadium of Light metro station only operates Northbound (i.e. towards Newcastle) and St Peters metro station only operates Southbound (i.e. towards Sunderland centre).

THE STADIUM OF LIGHT
     The Club moved to the Stadium of Light in 1997, after leaving their former home of Roker Park where they had played for 99 years. The stadium is of a good size, is totally enclosed and on the whole is quite impressive. It is composed of two three tiered stands (at the North end and the West side of the pitch), whilst the others are two tiered. The West (Main) Stand on one side also has a row of executive boxes (which you can sit outside if you wish), that are situated just below the top tier. Currently, with half the stadium being larger than the other, it looks a little imbalanced, when looking from the South Stand. However, if at some point the Club were to add an additional tier to the two remaining sides, then an even more remarkable stadium would emerge. There is also a large video screens perched upon the roof at either end.
     Away fans are now housed in the Upper Tier of the North Stand at one end of the stadium, where around 3,000 fans can be housed for league games. For cup games then up to 9,000 visiting supporters can be accommodated in this tier, if demand requires it). Although the facilities are fine in this area, you do have to climb a large number of flights of stairs to reach this top tier. It almost feels if this area has been 'tucked in' under the stadium roof, as it comes down over this section. It means that if you are sitting towards the back of the tier, then although you can see the pitch, you get a limited view of the majority of the rest of the stadium, giving the feeling of being a bit cut off from it all.
     Outside the stadium there is a statue of former FA Cup winning manager Bob Stokoe, as well as some reminders of the former Wearmouth Colliery, on the site of which the stadium was built. Behind the West Stand there is a large red wheel, an emblem of the lifts that used to take the miners down to the mines. Also outside one corner of the stadium is a large miners lamp. If you feel a little mischievous, then ask the nearest Sunderland fan whether it is a Geordie Lamp. Don't worry you won't get any physical abuse, just a long lecture that the lamp is in fact a Davy lamp! 

GROUND LAYOUT

                                                                                                  
 A   THE WEST STAND

 B   THE EAST STAND

 C   THE NORTH STAND

 D   THE SOUTH STAND    

Today's Visitors READING are currently 16th in the table and have won two of the last five matches only losing the once 2-0 at home to table topping Wolves.  On Tuesday night the Royals hosted Barnsley at the Madejski stadium and won the match 3-0 with goals from Edwards, Van Den Berg and Bodvarsson.
     Since the Stadium of Light opened in 1997 Reading have made Five visits winning once and
losing four.  Their only success came on the 9th of April 2005, Julio Arca opened the scoring for Sunderland in the 52nd minute but a brace from Dave Kitson , 76 & 82 pen, sealed the points for the Royals.
     Last time out was almost five years ago to the day when Sunderland won 3-0 in a Barclays Premier fixture, goals from James McClean, Steven Fletcher and Stephane Sessegnon won the day for the Black cats.        

SUNDERLAND ... 1   READING ... 3

     Chris Coleman's first home match in charge of Sunderland couldn't have gone more wrong, his team crumbled after going down to ten men in the 3rd minute of injury time of the first half as Callum McManaman saw red for his second bookable offence when he punched a cross with his fist into the Reading net.
     The second half saw Jaap Stam's Reading produce their slow build up play passing the ball across the field at the back and the centre of the park to the annoyance of the home fans who jeered the Reading tactics and bayed at their own players to run at the Royals to win the ball.
     Things got worse in the 53rd minute when Aiden McGeady lost the ball in the Reading half inflicting a counter attack on his team from the Royals Sone Aluko's effort was deflected into the path of David Edwards who slid in to finish superbly.

     Fifteen minutes later and the home faithful were heading for the exits when the first of Modou Barrow's brace occurred volleying the ball in at Robbin Ruiter's near side post.  The Reading number 17 made it 3-0 and game over three minutes later when a fine flick by Yann Kermorgant found the 25 year old Gambian who finished with aplomb.




     There were less than a third of the home support left after the third goal and those who were left started arguing and fighting amongst their selves in the West stand where I was watching the game frustration had found it's way into the stand and there were some scary moments to contend with during this period of the game.




     Things cooled down a little in the 76th minute when the Swedish teenage substitute Joel Asoro broke through the Reading defence and was scythed down for his troubles.  Lewis Grabban placed the ball on the spot and powered it into Mannone's left hand corner for a consolation goal.
     Verdict, not hard to see why Sunderland are where they are in the league for Reading's performance wasn't exactly great and yet they won the game easily although the home team were reduced in number.  Chris Coleman has his work cut out to keep this team in the Championship he has a number of injuries which doesn't make life easy but so do a number of teams in this league but if anyone could keep Sunderland up he can.

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