Fir Park - History

History

Motherwell F.C. was formed in 1886. It played at sites on Roman Road and Dalziel Park until 1895, when Fir Park was opened. The ground was laid out in a wooded area belonging to Lord Hamilton of Dalzell, whose racing colours were claret and amber. Motherwell then adopted these colours themselves.

Fir Park did not get off to a convincing start, with low attendances leading to rumours that Hibernian were ready to take over the stadium, something that didn't materialise.

For most of the 20th century, the only stand at Fir Park was a two-tier main stand. The record attendance for the stadium is 35,632 against Rangers in a 1951–52 Scottish Cup replay. Motherwell went on to win the competition. Two years later Motherwell built an enclosure roof over the eastern terrace, costing £6,500. Floodlight lamps were built on the two roofs and the first floodlit game, against Preston, was played in 1956. The enclosure roof was damaged by strong winds, however, which meant that large corner floodlight pylons were built in 1959.

Construction of a new main stand began in 1962. The £92,000 cost of this work was financed by selling players, including Ian St. John. To minimise disruption to the old stand, the steel frame was built over and behind it. Construction of the main stand stopped 20 yards short of the south end, however, because a local resident successfully objected to a completed stand. The objection was made because it would have restricted light to the garden and reduced the value of the property. By the time the property owner had decided to sell, Motherwell did not have the funds or will to complete a full length main stand. The club instead bought the house and used it for their offices.

In 1977, Fir Park came within the terms of the Safety of Sports Grounds Act 1975. Only routine work was needed to keep the ground within the legislation, but it reduced capacity from 35,000 to 22,500. This included 3,500 seats in the Main Stand and two open terraces behind each goal. The Taylor Report in 1990 mandated that all top division clubs develop all-seater stadiums. Motherwell also had to overcome the economic challenges caused by the closure of the nearby Ravenscraig steelworks. The club won the Scottish Cup in 1991, which financed the £750,000 conversion of the East Enclosure to seating.

A two tier South Stand, which cost £2.2 million, was opened in April 1993. Two years later, Motherwell opened a single tier North Stand, completing the stadium in its present format. The North Stand was dedicated to former Motherwell player Davie Cooper, who died in the year that it was opened. Both of these stands were designed by the company WH Dickie Architects, owned by the club's director Bill Dickie. The Main Stand was renamed the Phil O'Donnell Stand in January 2008, to honour the Motherwell captain who died on the Fir Park pitch. A sculptured tribute to O'Donnell was added to the north wall of the stand in 2011.

In recent seasons, Fir Park has received negative publicity for its pitch. It was waterlogged and several games were postponed in the 2007–08 season. The pitch and the consequent fixture congestion forced Gretna, who were ground-sharing with Motherwell in that season, to play one of their league games at Almondvale Stadium in Livingston. In the 2008–09 season, a game against Hearts was called off due to the pitch being frozen, which prompted media criticism as the required under-soil heating should have prevented this.

The pitch underwent extensive remedial work, costing £350,000, in preparation for the 2009–10 Scottish Premier League season. There was a severe winter in 2009–10, however, which damaged the pitch greatly. The club tried to make the best of the situation by relaying both goal mouths. In season 2010–11, the club removed the top few inches of the pitch and completely relaid the pitch. They also added twisted sand fibre which should prevent the pitch from tearing as easily.

On 2 December 2011, a match against Hibernian was abandoned at half-time due to a floodlight fire causing safety concerns.