DunfermlineGround: East End Park Visits: 1 Date: 30th December 2013 Match: Dunfermline - Rangers 0-4 (Scottish League 1) Attendance: 10 089
At first there were no matches in England or Scotland on 30th December. Then suddenly someone sent me a mail asking me if I was going to Scotland this day for Dunfermline vs Rangers. I looked at the fixtures again and noticed the Scottish League 1 match had been moved to Monday night for TV-reasons. Staying in London going to Dunfermline is quite a long journey (5,5 hours) but everything went smoothly. I changed trains in Edinburgh and as planned I arrived in Dunfermline around 14.30- The weather forecast said "Heavy rain" between 9 and 15 in Dunfermline and considering all the rain in previous days I was a bit concerned. On my way to Dunfermline I checked the twitter account of Rangers and they had posted a picture of the pitch and confirmed it was Game on. As I checked-in at my hotel the male receptionist was more than thrilled I had come all the way from Sweden to watch Dunfermline. He had been in Sweden a couple of years ago to watch Dunfermline play in the Europa League (vs Häcken). He was not too hopeful of tonight´s match though. I then walked down to East End Park to pick up my ticket. People were queuing to buy tickets and it was obvious this was a big match. As I was taking some exterior pictures I found an open gate and sneaked in for a few pictures. An hour later Christian (who sent me that mail) and Magnus, both from Gothenburg, arrived at my hotel and we then walked to the ground together. We stopped by the Elizabethan pub on the way where we met Julian, a German groundhopper.
East End Park is a decent looking football ground with four different stands. The ground has an all-seated capacity of 12 000. The biggest stands are actually the end stands. My seat was in the Norrie McCathie Stand, the home end. From row W I had an excellent view of the pitch. For this match Rangers were given tickets for three stands. Around 4 500 away fans packed the East Stand, half the North Stand as well as 1/4 of the Main Stand. In total 10 089 came to East End Park this Monday evening, by far Dunfermline´s best attendance of the year.. Once the match got under way I was a bit surprised to how hostile the home fans were to Rangers (and the referee). I know most fans in Scotland don´t like the Old Firm clubs but it was much more hostile than I expected. On the pitch Rangers dominated and was 1-0 up at half-time. In the second half they scored three more goals and the match finished 4-0 to Rangers. A decent match to finish off the year with. In total I went to 59 matches this year with 54 of those being at a new ground for me. After the match I met up with Christian and Magnus and we the had a few drinks at the hotel before going to sleep. Tomorrow I go back to England but on Thursday I return to Scotland to finish off this tour.
East End Park
East End Park
North Stand
North Stand
East Stand
Main Stand
Main Stand
Norrie McCathie Stand
Dunfermline fans
North Stand
Rangers fans
View of East End Park
East Stand
Kick-off
Rangers fans
Main Stand
View of play
Pano
Pano |