top of page
Cappielow Park
(Greenock Morton)
Address: Sinclair Street,
Greenock,
Inverclyde,
Scotland,
PA15 2TY
Capacity: 11,589 (5,741 Seated)
Covered seating, uncovered seating, covered terracing, uncovered terracing, take your pick. It’s all here.
Dating back to 1879, it has been the home of Greenock Morton Football Club ever since. The Cappielow name is believed to be of Scandinavian origin, but its exact origins are not certain.
Hosting football matches since the 19th century, Cappielow played host to a Scotland v Wales match at the 1902 British Home Championship, with the home side winning 5-1 in front of over 5,000 people.
A record attendance was set in 1922 when more than 23,000 were present for a game against Celtic, though the match ended in controversy when a riot caused damage to both the ground and the surrounding area.
Floodlights would be installed at Cappielow during the 1950s, first used for a league match against Third Lanark Athletic Club in 1958.
The stands surrounding the pitch have gone through major conversions in the decades since, and sections of St Mirren’s former Love Street home have also been transferred across to Cappielow Park in recent years.
Alongside Greenock Morton, Cappielow Park played hosted to Clydebank between 1999 and 2002, when their Boghead Park home was closed, and Ayr United briefly, whilst new floodlights were installed at their Somerset Park home.
Celtic’s U20 side use Cappielow regularly for home games, and the ground hosted games at the UEFA European U17 Championship in 2012.
Location and Getting There
Cappielow Park is located very close to the James Watt Dock Marina, around two miles southeast of Greenock Town Centre. Part of the River Clyde is just a hundred metres away to the north, the Greenock Cenotaph is around 1.1 miles away to the west, and Murdieston Park is another 0.7 miles west from there.
Coming to Cappielow Park by car is certainly possible.
There is a Matchday Car Park off on the left side of Sinclair Street that costs £3 per vehicle to park at.
Your alternative is to find street parking mostly to the south, and this could leave you being some distance away from the ground depending on where you go. Ensure that you are legally allowed to park where you find and do not block the drives of any residents.
The nearest railway station to Cappielow Park is Cartsdyke, served by a ScotRail line that runs between Glasgow Central and Gourock.
It is a very short distance west of the ground and walking from here takes under 10 minutes heading north along MacDougall Street, turning left onto East Hamilton Street (A8) and then turning left onto Sinclair Street.
Bogston is the next station to the east on this Glasgow Central to Gourock line and walking from here takes between 15 and 20 minutes.
Cartsdyke would certainly be my recommendation, though services that stop here do not run that regularly.
Outside the Ground
Sinclair Street runs alongside Cappielow’s East Stand, better known as the Sinclair Street Terrace.
The stand has a perimeter wall outside of it that is made from white corrugated iron and blue trim. Head down to the far end of the exterior, next to the railway entrance, and you can find a Ticket Collection Point and the Main Entrance into other parts of the ground.
Turnstiles for the Sinclair Street Terrace can be found along the stand’s perimeter wall.
In a clockwise direction from the Sinclair Street Terrace is the South Stand, better known as the Grandstand.
Accessibility to it is restricted because the stand has the railway tracks immediately behind it.
The Grandstand is therefore reached by using the Main Entrance off Sinclair Street, and the turnstiles leading inside can be found here as well.
The West Stand at Cappielow Park is known as the Wee Dublin End as Greenock’s Irish immigrant population was once housed behind the stand.
Industrial units are now in place behind it and that limits the stand’s accessibility, though there is an access road running along directly behind it and staircases leading up to the top of the stand from the ground below.
Entrance into this side of Cappielow Park comes through a brick block of turnstiles. They can be found off East Hamilton Street (A8) and are near to the ground’s northwest corner.
To get from the Main Entrance to these turnstiles, you will need to head north along Sinclair Street, turn left onto East Hamilton Street (A8) and continue all the way past the Norseman Bar and the Arnold Clark until the turnstiles come into view on your left.
The North Stand is better known as the Cowshed and has its accessibility limited by the Arnold Clarke being in place right up behind it. Only part of the stand’s blue corrugated iron roof can be seen as a result. Turnstiles for the Cowshed are at either end of the exterior, those being the set off East Hamilton (A8) and the set of Sinclair Street to the east. The latter is used most of the time when not all of the Cowshed is not fully open.
Inside the Ground
The Sinclair Street Terrace consists of a single tier of uncovered standing terrace that has rows of metal bars running along it for fans to lean on.
The angle of the stand when compared to Sinclair Street outside means that one end of the terraced area goes further back than the other. An advertising board up behind the back rows also houses a small analogue clock on it.
Your view from of the pitch from anywhere inside the Sinclair Street Terrace is perfectly clear, but there is no protection from overhead, from the sides, or from behind. You will feel all the cold and the rain if it is present on a matchday.
The Grandstand consists of a single tier of blue seating with the letters GMFC spelt out in yellow across the outermost blocks.
The seating area as a whole is slightly elevated above ground, and its central blocks contain a press area alongside a block of dark blue seating for executive use. Cappielow’s dugouts and tunnel are based down in front of this seating area, with the changing rooms located inside the stand.
Supporting pillars come down at regular intervals along the front of the Grandstand’s roof, and these will restrict your view if you are sat in the seating area behind them. Your clearest views are likely to come from being sat right down at the front in the rows between each pillar.
Windshields are in place at either end which fully protect the seating area inside. The windshield by the ground’s southeast corner additionally has an access door on it however which a small yellow staircase leads up to from outside.
The Wee Dublin End contains several large blocks of flat blue benches.
There are two paths and set of staircases leading to the seating area from the northwest turnstiles, one of them leading to the bottom and the other leading up to the top.
Your view of the pitch from anywhere inside the Wee Dublin End is perfectly clear, but there is no protection from overhead, from the sides, or from behind. You will feel all the cold and the rain if it is present on a matchday.
The Cowshed has the most complex layout of the four sides of Cappielow Park.
It is split between seating and standing, with several blocks of blue seating down at the front and terracing around it that has rows of metal bars running along for fans to lean on. Most of this terracing area is covered, but there is a section of terracing over by the ground’s northeast corner which isn’t protected by a roof overhead.
There are supporting pillars coming down along the front of the Cowshed’s roof and these will restrict your view if you are stood in the terracing behind or in the back rows of the seating blocks. Your view will be unrestricted from the front rows of the seating blocks and within the terracing area either side of them.
Both ends of Cowshed are left open to enable access in and out.
The neighbouring uncovered terracing area offers clear views of the pitch, but has little to no protection from overhead, from the sides, or from behind.
The Cowshed is often partly on a closed on a matchday when low attendances are expected. You can often find that the terracing over by the northwest corner is sectioned off and left unused by supporters.
Away Fans
The location of away fans at Cappielow Park often depends on the allocation.
Crowds have been known to be housed in the Cowshed, taking up the northern end of the stand which contains standing terrace with rows of metal bars for fans to lean on. Most of this terraced section is covered by a roof, with supporting pillars down towards the front restrict the view for those stood behind them.
When larger crowds are expected, then the Wee Dublin End to the west can be made available to away supporters as well.
This is a tall single tier of flat blue benches that is accessible via paths and staircases which lead to its top and bottom. Views are perfectly clear from this side of Cappielow Park, but there is no protection from overhead, from the sides, or from behind.
Turnstiles into both away sections can be found in a brick block off East Hamilton (A8). It is at the far end of the Arnold Clark, by the ground's northwest corner.
Away fans have sometimes been known to be housed in a section of the Grandstand as well, usually when crowds are very, very small and most of the ground is expected to remain shut.
Matchday Pubs
Pubs available to supporters on a matchday include*:
-The Hole In The Wall (1 Argyle Street, PA15 1XA) (Typically Home and Away Supporters) (Located in more central Greenock)
-The James Watt (80-92 Cathcart Street, PA15 1DD) (A JD Wetherspoon, Typically Home and Away Supporters) (Located near Greenock Central Station)
-The Lighthouse Bar (37 Cathcart Street, PA15 1DG) (Typically Home and Away Supporters) (Located near Greenock Central Station)
-The Norseman Bar (2 Sinclair Street, PA15 2TU) (Home and Away Supporters) (Located outside the ground's northeast corner)
-The Old Bank Bar (11 William Street, PA15 1BT) (Typically Home and Away Supporters) (Located near Greenock Central Station)
*With few pubs located near Cappielow Park itself, the recommendation is to find a drink in more central Greenock before making your way to the ground.
Overview
A classic-looking football ground with a very unique layout, every side of Cappielow Park offers something different. You can get covered seating, uncovered seating, covered terracing and uncovered terracing here.
Tightly packed into the surrounding area, accessibility along three of its four sides is limited. With a car park close by to the east and a train station close by to the west however, this is a ground easily reachable, and a historic venue that is well worth coming to see a game at.
bottom of page