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Victoria Park
(Ross County)
Address: Jubilee Park Road,
Dingwall,
Highland,
Scotland,
IV15 9QZ
Capacity: 6,541 (All-Seater)
You start off fearing about a daunting drive up to the Highlands, but then you realise where the train station is.
Currently known for sponsorship reasons as the Global Energy Stadium, it has been home to Ross County Football Club since opening in 1929.
The town Victoria Park is located in actually has a lower population than the football ground’s capacity. Ross County draw a lot of support from the County of Ross and Cromarty however, and this is where the need for a stadium of this size comes from.
Notable renovations came to the ground following Ross County’s promotion to the Scottish Premier League in 2012. Seats were installed at one end, a completely new stand was built, additional car parking was provided, and undersoil heating was installed so tat the stadium could meet SPL requirements.
The Global Energy Stadium name was announced in July 2012 after the renovations were complete.
Location and Getting There
Victoria Park is located within 0.5 miles of the Highland Town’s Centre. The River Peffery runs along a short distance north of the stadium, with Pefferside Park roughly 0.5 miles away to the northwest.
Coming to Victoria Park by car is certainly possible (if you fancy what could well be a long drive for most up to the Scottish Highlands).
There is a car park immediately to the west of the stadium, which costs £2 per vehicle to park at.
Finding free parking within Dingwall should be possible though. Ensure that you are legally to park where you find and do not block the drives of any residents.
There’s good news if you don’t fancy taking your car up to the Highlands, however.
Dingwall Station, served by a ScotRail service that runs from Inverness, is less than a five minute walk southwest of Victoria Park. It is perfectly placed for those coming by rail.
You can alternatively use the bus to get between Dingwall and Inverness. The Number 27 service runs from Station Road in Dingwall and ends at Inverness Bus Station which is next door to Inverness Train Station.
Outside the Stadium
If you are coming to Victoria Park from Dingwall Station, you will likely head up Jubilee Park Road and first be brought to the stadium’s southwest corner.
There is a brick building here which leads to Staggies Bar The Grill.
Continuing in a clockwise direction along Jubilee Park Road from here brings you to the West Stand.
Its exterior has a blue and white concrete base with blue corrugated iron and a row of windows higher up. There is another entrance for the Staggies Bar by the southwest corner, and a little further along from here is the stadium’s Main Entrance which also holds the Club Shop. The Players Lounge and MacLean Suite Hospitality Entrance is towards the middle of the West Stand’s exterior.
Turnstiles for the West Stand itself (5-8) are based at either end of the exterior. Turnstiles 5-6 are near to the stadium’s northwest corner, and Turnstiles 7-8 are in the stadium’s southwest corner.
Victoria Park’s Car Park is out beyond the West Stand, and you can also find the Matchday Ticket Office in a portacabin. Home Ticket Sales are at one end of it and Away Ticket Sales are at the other.
Heading past Turnstiles 5-6 and past a white brick wall allows you to be in line with the stadium’s North Stand.
It is better known as the Academy Stand because the Highland Football Academy’s Dingwall Campus is situated right outside of it. The Academy’s Reception is next to the stadium’s northeast corner.
You can find turnstiles for the Academy End itself however (1-4) near to two West Stand turnstiles in the stadium’s northwest corner.
Jubilee Park, where the Academy train, and the River Peffery are out beyond the Academy End and the Highland Football Academy.
The East Stand at Victoria Park has a brickwork and partly concrete base with blue corrugated iron and a row of windows higher up. Part of the corrugated iron section protrudes outwards as well. The Entrance for the stand’s executive boxes and hospitality facilities can be found at the base of a glass façade, with many other doors along the exterior not meant for use on a matchday.
The turnstiles for the East Stand (13-16) are located in a brick building by the stadium’s southeast corner. They face towards the southern side of the stadium however.
Out beyond the East Stand’s exterior is a large grass pitch and 3G pitch which are both part of the Highland Football Academy Campus.
The South Stand at Victoria Park is known as the Jail End. This is because the old County Jail and Sheriff Court were once located behind it. The jails have since been converted into housing and despite the Sheriff Court still remaining intact, it is no longer in use.
There’s nothing of note on the Jail End’s exterior, which has a white concrete base with blue corrugated iron in place on it. There is a path immediately outside of it which you can walk along though to get from one side of Victoria Park to the other.
Turnstiles for the Jail End (9-12) are housed in the stadium’s southwest corner off Jubilee Park Road.
Inside the Stadium
The West Stand is considered the Main Stand at Victoria Park.
It consists of a single tier which is split into two sections that you can freely get between. The majority of seats in this stand are coloured blue, though the two central blocks in the back section are coloured red and for executive use. The block to the left of these has the letters RC spelt out with white seating in it, and the block to the right has the letters FC spelt out with white seating in it. There are executive boxes, hospitality suites, and the area holding the matchday camera up at the very back of the stand.
The stadium’s dugouts and tunnel are located down the front of the stand, with the changing rooms based inside. Attached to one end of the stand, over by the stadium’s northwest corner, is a two-tiered hospitality building.
Your view from anywhere inside the West Stand is perfectly clear as there are no supporting pillars coming down from the roof above.
Windshields are in place at either end, but they only provide protection to the rows further back. The rows further forward have just small walls in place to offer protection.
The Academy End used to be uncovered terracing but now consists of a single tier of seating.
The outer seating blocks are coloured red, with the inner seating blocks coloured blue and having the letters RCFC spelt out in white across them. The red block next to the stadium’s northwest corner additionally has a flat platform down at the front for disabled supporters to use.
Your view from anywhere inside the Academy End is perfectly clear as there are no supporting pillars coming down from the roof above.
Windshields are in place at either end, but they only provide protection to the rows further back. The rows further forward have just small walls in place to offer protection. The end next to the northeast corner however has its protection aided by buildings housed in there, including the Reception for the Highland Football Academy Campus.
The East Stand used to not run along the whole length of the pitch, but it has now been extended at both ends.
The stand is single tiered with the extended parts both containing entirely blue seating, though the one nearer to the stadium’s northeast corner doesn’t have seating blocks that are as big as the rest of the stand’s.
The central blocks of the stand are split between two sections that you can freely get between. It has blue outer blocks, with the central blocks coloured red instead. The block further back and to the left of these red blocks has the letters RC spelt out in white seating in it, and the block to the right has the letters FC spelt out in white seating in it. Executive boxes and hospitality facilities are located up behind the back row in the stand’s centre.
Your view from anywhere inside the East Stand is perfectly clear as there are no supporting pillars coming down from the roof above.
Windshields are in place at either end, but they only provide protection to the rows further back. The rows further forward have just small walls in place to offer protection. The end next to the northeast corner however has its protection aided by buildings housed in there, including the Reception for the Highland Football Academy Campus.
The Jail End used to be covered terracing but now consists of a single tier of seating.
The outer seating blocks at either end are coloured red, with the inner seating blocks coloured blue. Down at the front of the block nearest to the southwest corner is a flat platform for disabled supporters to use. The space next to this block is taken up by a Tea Bar that offers refreshments for those on this side of the stadium.
Red supporting pillars come down from the stand’s roof and will likely restrict the view of those sat behind them. They will not get in your way at all if you are sat right down at the front.
The Tea Bar provides protection from the sides at one end of the stand. The other end has a windshield in place, but it does not provide full protection to the very front rows of the stand.
Away Fans
Away fans are housed behind the goal in the Academy End on the northern side of the ground.
This used to be a completely uncovered stand, but is now a single tier of seating which has a flat platform down at the front which disabled supporters can use.
Smaller crowds will often be sectioned off into one part of the stand via rows of stewards or large sheets. The biggest of crowds, typically around 2,000 supporters, can be housed in the whole of the Academy End, where they are already well segregated by home fans elsewhere in the stadium.
Blocks in the adjacent West Stand can be made available as well if necessary.
Your view from anywhere inside the Academy End is perfectly clear, with a good level of protection from windshields and club buildings at either end.
The end next to the northeast corner however has its protection aided by buildings housed in there, including the Reception for the Highland Football Academy Campus.
Turnstiles for this part of the stadium can be found along Jubilee Park Road by the stadium’s northwest corner.
Matchday Pubs
Pubs available to supporters on a matchday include:
-Staggies Bar The Grill at Victoria Park itself (Typically Home Supporters Only)
-The Caledonian Bars (High Street, IV15 9RY) (Typically Home and Away Supporters) (Located west of Victoria Park and Dingwall Station)
-The Mallard (Station Square, IV15 9JD) (Typically Home and Away Supporters) (Located very close to Dingwall Station)
-Oscars Pub (Strathpeffer Road, IV15 9QF) (Typically Home and Away Supporters) (Located in western Dingwall)
Overview
The conversion to all-seater has turned Victoria Park into a small but practical stadium.
Views are very good from three of its four sides, with its East and West Stand accommodating executive and hospitality facilities that any modern football ground would be expected to hold.
Perhaps my favourite thing about this stadium though is it location within Dingwall. Find the ground on a map and you may be left fearing what looks a daunting drive up into the Highlands. With a train station near enough on the doorstep however, its accessibility from Inverness Station makes getting here by rail a remarkably effective albeit lengthy trip.
Worth coming to visit.
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