Motherwell

Ground: Fir Park

Visits: 1

Date: 4th January 2015

Match: Motherwell - Aberdeen 0-2 (Scottish Premier League)

Attendance: 4 805

Apart from Dover vs Crystal Palace, which I would never get a ticket for, there were no FA-Cup matches at a new ground for me on Sunday. Instead I looked at fixtures in Scotland and decided to visit Fir Park for Motherwell vs Aberdeen. Due to engineering works the first train of the day from Preston to Glasgow didn´t depart until 11.04. That meant I was in Glasgow 13.30 at the earliest. Motherwell vs Aberdeen was shown live on TV in Scotland meaning kick-off was at 15.30 instead of 15.00 which is the normal kick-off time. My train was in Glasgow on time and 13.50 I then boarded my second train of the day. 15 minutes later I was at Motherwell train station and after another 15 minutes, around 14.20 I was finally outside Fir Park. The later than usual kick-off time meant I had plenty of time to buy a ticket and take some exterior pictures. Fir Park has been the home of Motherwell since 1896 and has an all-seated capacity of 13 500. The main stand was in 2008 renamed the Phil O´Donnell Stand. Phil O´Donnell was a former player of Motherwell who on 29 December 2007 collapsed during a game against Dundee United. He was taken to hospital but was declared dead at 17.18. He was 35 years old.

1985 is the last time a team other than Rangers or Celtic won the Scottish league title. Back then it was Sir Alex Ferguson who was manager and won the title with Aberdeen. 2014/15 might the year Aberdeen break the Celtic/Rangers monopoly. With one match more played than Celtic Aberdeen are a point clear at the top. The excitement of having a historic title was shown by the size of the away support at Fir Park. 1 745 Aberdeen fans was at Fir Park today and that is a respectable figure. In the first half it was the away fans who had something to cheer about. Aberdeen were by far the better team and in the 36th minute Adam Rooney gave them the lead, 0-1 at half-time. The first 20 minutes or so of the second half was a bit boring but then both teams started to create chances. Aberdeen hit the post and even Motherwell had something that can be described as a chance. In the 86th minute a Motherwell defender made a nice goal line save. The only problem was he used his hand. Red card and penalty to Aberdeen. Adam Rooney scored again and Aberdeen hold on to a 2-0 victory. I really like games where away fans make up a large proportion of the crowd and even though the attendance at Fir Park was only 4 800 for this match the big away following meant it was a correct decision by me to choose this match. After the match I hurried back to the Motherwell station and at 18.38 I then left Glasgow Central. At 21.00 I was back at Preston. Tomorrow I will finish off this tour with a trip to Turf Moor for Burnley vs Tottenham.

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