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Fir Park
(Motherwell)
Address: Fir Park Street,
Motherwell,
North Lanarkshire,
Scotland,
ML1 2QN
Capacity: 13,750 (All-Seater)
One of the country’s longest-standing stadiums, and its tenants plan to do maintenance work that will keep it in use of many years to come.
First opened in 1895, it has been the home of Motherwell Football Club ever since.
Motherwell were formed nine years previously and spent time at Roman Road and Dalziel Park before moving to their current home. Fir Park was built in a woodland area that belonged to Lord Hamilton. His racing colours were claret and amber, and Motherwell would adopt those colours themselves for their home kit.
For many decades, the stadium’s layout consisted of a large main stand and terracing that ringed around the other three seats. It wasn’t until the 1990s that Fir Park became an all-seater venue. The publication of the Taylor Report in 1990 made it mandatory for leading Scottish stadiums to remove their terracing, and Fir Park’s conversion was completed by 1995 with the demolition and reconstruction of stands where the terrace once stood.
During the 2007-08 season, Fir Park was also home to Gretna Football Club, whose Raydale Park home did not meet Scottish Premier League standards. Within 12 months, following severe financial difficulties, Gretna FC would liquidate and cease to exist.
There is now a new team, Gretna Football Club 2008, which was formed by a supporters’ trust in their place.
Location and Getting There
Fir Park is located within close proximity of two schools, and within a quarter of a mile of Motherwell Town Centre. The River Clyde at its closest point is 0.7 miles away to the west, Strathclyde Loch is roughly 0.8 miles further away from there, and the Duchess of Hamilton Park is 0.7 miles away to the northwest.
There is a very small car park outside the stadium’s western side but this is not available for supporter use.
You will instead need to find street parking, and this should certainly be possible with residential streets on all four sides. Ensure though that you are legally allowed to park where you find and do not block the drives of any residents.
The nearest train station to Fir Park is Airbles to the west. It is served by ScotRail lines that run from Glasgow and walking from here to the ground takes around 20-25 minutes.
Most coming by rail are more likely to end up at Motherwell Station, served by Avanti West Coast, Caledonian Sleeper, CrossCountry, LNER, ScotRail and Transpennine Express. It is located further north of Airbles Station but the walk from here also takes around 20-25 minutes.
You can alternatively head to the bus stop on Merry Street, taking either the 241, 266 or 240 Lanarkshire Connect bus service to the stop on Windmill Street (A721), and then heading slightly back on yourself down to Knowetop Avenue and Fir Park.
Outside the Stadium
Knowetop Avenue runs alongside Fir Park’s North Stand, which is named after Davie Cooper.
Born in Hamilton on 25th February 1956, Cooper was a winger who spent most of his career with Rangers, but did play more than 150 times for Motherwell between 1989 and 1993. During his time at Fir Park, he helped the Well win the Scottish Cup in 1991, beating Dundee United 4-3 after extra-time at Hampden Park.
Capped 22 times by Scotland, Cooper passed away on 23rd March 1995 at the age of 39. He was still playing for Clydebank at the time he suffered a brain haemorrhage, dying at Glasgow’s Southern General Hospital the following day. The Davie Cooper Stand was opened the same year that he passed away.
The Davie Cooper Stand has a tall brick work and red gates around its perimeter. Its exterior is mostly sandy-coloured brickwork, though it does have lighter-coloured corrugated iron and red trim up at the top. The Well Shop, Motherwell’s Official Club Shop, can be found in the centre of the stand, whilst Club Offices and the Motherwell FC Community Trust are also housed on this side of the stadium.
Turnstiles for the Davie Cooper Stand itself are along the base of the stand, with a few private parking spaces next to the perimeter wall.
Heading round in a clockwise direction from the Davie Cooper Stand is the East Stand, which is named after John Hunter.
Born in Johnstone on 6th April 1878, Hunter played for clubs in both Scotland and England during a 14-year senior career. After being forced to retire through injury in early 1911, he was appointed secretary-manager of Motherwell in April of that year. That began a 35-year spell as manager of the Well, which included a Scottish League Title win in 1932, and three Scottish Cup Finals in 1931, 1933 and 1939. He would step aside as manager in 1946 but continued to be club secretary until 1959.
Hunter passed away on 12th January 1966 at the age of 87. The East Stand at Fir Park has been named after the Motherwell Hall of Fame inductee since November 2016.
The John Hunter Stand is the least accessible of Fir Park’s four sides it has a school and community pitches right outside of it. You can see part of its corrugated iron exterior from Knowetop Avenue, as well as the concrete walkway and concourse out the back of it. This walkway runs along the whole of the stadium’s eastern side and exits out by a car park from off Dalzell Drive.
Turnstiles for the John Hunter Stand are based off Knowetop Avenue on the northern side of the ground. You enter through these and walk straight ahead to the stand’s outer walkway and concourse.
To get round to Fir Park’s South Stand, you will need to head east along Knowetop Avenue, past the nearby school, and turn right onto Dalzell Drive. Head along here past a white housing block and there is an opening between the trees on your right. Walking down this opening eventually brings you through red gates and to the South Stand. This entrance off Dalzell Drive is used by away fans on a matchday.
The South Stand’s exterior is similar in design to the Davie Cooper Stand opposite, using sandy-coloured brickwork with lighter-coloured corrugated iron higher up.
Part of the giant exterior hangs over the pathway, and it is underneath the stand that you can find the entrances and turnstiles which lead inside.
There is a car park adjacent to the South Stand, with a school and residential estate out beyond it.
It is not possible to walk around from the South Stand to the stadium’s West Stand. You will need to go back on yourself, heading onto and up Dalzell Drive, walking along Knowetop Avenue past the northern side of the ground, and turning left onto Fir Park Street which runs past the stand.
The West Stand is the Main Stand at Fir Park and is named after Phil O’Donnell.
Born in Bellshill on 25th March 1972, O’Donnell was a midfielder who played more than 200 times for Motherwell across two spells between 1990 and 2007. During his first spell at the Well in the 1990s, O’Donnell scored one of the goals in Motherwell’s 4-3 extra-time over Dundee United in the 1991 Scottish Cup Final.
On 29th December 2007, whilst captaining Motherwell in a game against Dundee United, O’Donnell suffered a cardiac arrest on the pitch and treated for five minutes before being rushed to hospital. He died later that day at the age of just 35. Tributes poured in from not just Scotland but the entire footballing world, and Motherwell renamed the West Stand at Fir Park after O’Donnell in January 2008.
The Phil O’Donnell Stand has an exterior design that follows the rest of Fir Park. It consists mostly of brickwork and rows of glass windows with lighter-coloured corrugated iron and red trim up at the top. The Main Entrance is housed in the centre of the stand, with the Press Entrance to the left of here and the Centenary Suite Entrance to the right through a glass porch.
Turnstiles for the Phil O’Donnell Stand are based around parts of the brick exterior that protrude outwards. The turnstiles for the southern section of the stand are to the right of the Main Entrance, and the turnstiles for the northern section of the stand are to the left of the Main Entrance.
There are a few private car parking spaces immediately in front of the Phil O’Donnell Stand, with residential houses on the other side of Fir Park Street.
There is a brick building in the stadium’s northwest corner between the Phil O’Donnell Stand and the Davie Cooper Stand. It is known as the Chapman building and houses the Main Ticket Office.
Continuing round in a clockwise direction from here will bring you back onto Knowetop Avenue and in front of the Davie Cooper Stand.
Inside the Stadium
The Davie Cooper Stand is single-tiered with Club Offices housed up at the back.
The outer seating blocks in this stand are claret in colour, but the central seating block is amber in colour and has the letters THE WELL spelt out in claret across it. The letters THE are higher up than the letters WELL.
What is noticeable about this stand is that the front wall appears taller at one end than the other, and this is because the pitch is sloped at a slight angle.
Your view from anywhere inside the Davie Cooper is clear because of the cantilever on the underside of the roof.
Large windshields at either end provide full protection to every row inside.
The John Hunter Stand is single-tiered, but its roof is noticeably lower down the adjacent Davie Cooper Stand’s.
Following the club record sale of midfielder David Turnbull to Celtic in 2020, Motherwell have been able to refurbish this side of the stadium. Work included replacing all the seats, installing a new PA system and LED lighting, painting the back wall and steelwork, as well as the addition of a fan mural of the timeline which tells the story of John Hunter. The new seating blocks are almost entirely claret, the only exception being the central seating block which is amber in colour.
Supporting pillars come down regularly towards the front of the stand and this means that those sat towards the back will likely have some form of restriction to your view. The pillars will not get in your way at all if you are sat in the front rows of the John Hunter Stand.
Large windshields at either end provide full protection to every row inside.
The South Stand towers over the rest of Fir Park.
It is divided into two similarly-sized tiers with a row of executive boxes in between. The outer blocks of the lower tier are claret in colour, and the central seating block is amber in colour with the letters FIR PARK spelt out in claret across it. The letters FIR are higher up than the letters PARK. The claret block either side of this amber block additionally contain a fir tree inside of them that is made from amber seating. Down at the front of this tier, by the stadium’s southwest corner, is an enclosure for disabled supporters to use.
All of the blocks in the upper tier are claret are colour, although the central block also contains a fir tree made from amber seating inside of it. You can find an electronic scoreboard on the wall at the front of the upper tier, and this can best be seen by those at the opposite end of the stadium.
What is noticeable about this stand is that the front wall appears taller at one end than the other, and this is because the pitch is sloped at a slight angle.
Your view from anywhere inside the South Stand is perfectly clear because of the cantilever on the underside of the roof.
Large windshields at either end provide protection to every row inside.
The Phil O’Donnell Stand only runs along two thirds of the length of the pitch. The reason for this came during construction, when a resident successfully objected to a full-length stand that would have restricted light to their garden and therefore reduced the value of their property. The amber-coloured steelwork frame which was supposed to support this part of the stand is still fixed in place today, but nothing has been built around it yet.
The stand itself is singled-tiered and has an elevated seating area, with claret staircases in place should supporters need to exit the stand and head down towards the edge of the pitch. The outer blocks in the seating area are amber in colour whilst the inner seating blocks are claret in colour. The front of one of the outer blocks is partly claret in colour however instead of amber. There is executive seating blocks up at the back, with a claret wall in place to segregate them from other seats nearby. Right up at the back is the area which holds the matchday camera.
The design of the seats in this stand is different from what you would typically find other professional football stadiums. Many of seats in the claret blocks are old-fashioned wooden seats, and the seats in the amber blocks are plastic, have holes in the bottom of them and very low backs.
Fir Park’s dugouts and tunnel are based down in front of the elevated seating area, with the changing rooms located inside the stand.
There are two yellow supporting pillars which come down towards the front of the stand. They will likely restrict your view somewhat if you are sat further back in any of the central seating blocks or seating blocks at the stand’s southern end. If you are sat in the seating blocks at the stand’s northern end or down in the front rows of the seating area, these pillars should not get in your way at all.
A large windshield by the stadium’s northwest corner provides protection to every row inside. There is a windshield in place at the other end of the Phil O’Donnell Stand, but it does provide protection to the front rows, with just a small wall in place here to offer protection instead. This windshield is also windowed in place so that those inside can see over to the far side of the pitch.
Away Fans
Away fans are housed behind the goal in the South Stand.
Crowds typically take up the claret and amber blocks in the just the lower tier of the stand. The upper tier is only opened when the largest of away crowds are expected.
Away fans are treated to a perfectly clear view of the action from either tier, with both ends well protected from the elements by large windshields.
What is noticeable about this stand is that the front wall appears taller at one end than the other, and this is because the pitch is sloped at a slight angle.
Getting round to the South Stand and its turnstiles requires to initially head away from the stadium.
If you are on Knowetop Avenue on the northern side of the ground, you need to head east past the nearby school and turn right on Dalzell Drive. Continue down here past a white housing block and there will be an opening between the trees on your right. Head through this opening and you will brought up to red gates that lead to the South Stand and its nearby car park. Turnstiles for this stand are based underneath the brick exterior.
Matchday Pubs
Pubs available to supporters on a matchday include:
-The Fir Park Social Club (13 Edward Street, ML1 2PP) (Typically Away Supporters Welcome) (Located very close to Fir Park itself)
-The Brandon Works (45-61 Merry Street, ML1 1JJ) (A JD Wetherspoon Pub, Typically Home and Away Supporters) (Located near to Motherwell Station)
-The New Century (49 Windmill Street, ML1 1RY) (Typically Home and Away Supporters) (Located near Motherwell Town Centre)
-The Railway Tavern (31 Merry Street, ML1 1JJ) (Typically Home and Away Supporters) (Located near to Motherwell Station)
-The Steelworks Bar and Grill (Glencairn Street, ML1 1TT) (Typically Home and Away Supporters) (Located northwest of Fir Park itself)
-The Windmill Tavern (75 Windmill Street, ML1 1RY) (Typically Home and Away Supporters) (Located near Motherwell Town Centre)
Overview
Fir Park is one of Scotland’s longest-standing football ground. Three of its stands pay tribute to former Motherwell icons and its South Stand towers over everything else around, offering excellent views for visiting supporters.
Motherwell have already undergone major refurbishment on their home’s East Stand and have promised to do maintenance work on its other three sides in the future.
It will be very interesting to see how this historic stadium looks once that renovation work is complete.
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