Easter Road
Encyclopedia
Easter Road is a football stadium located in the Leith
area of Edinburgh
, Scotland
, which is the home ground of Scottish Premier League
club Hibernian
(Hibs). The stadium currently has an all-seated capacity of 20,421, which makes it the fifth-largest football stadium in Scotland. Easter Road is also known by Hibs fans as "The Holy Ground" or "The Leith San Siro
". The venue has also been used to stage international matches, Scottish League Cup
semi-finals and was briefly the home ground of the Edinburgh professional rugby union
team.
Hibs first played at the present site of Easter Road in 1893. The record attendance of 65,860, when the stadium had vast terracing sections, was set by an Edinburgh derby
on 2 January 1950. The size of the terracing was greatly reduced in the 1980s. After the publication of the Taylor Report
, Hibs considered leaving Easter Road and moving to a different site, but these plans were abandoned in 1994. Redevelopment of the stadium began in 1995 and was finally completed in 2010. The Easter Road pitch had a pronounced slope until it was removed at the end of the 1999–20000 season.
, on 25 December 1875. The club first moved to the Easter Road area
in 1880, to a ground known as Hibernian Park
. This location had the advantage of being equidistant between their two main sources of support, the Irish immigrant communities in the port of Leith
and the Old Town
of Edinburgh. When Hibs suffered financial difficulties in the early 1890s, the lease on Hibernian Park expired and developers started building what would become Bothwell Street. The club was reformed in 1892 and a lease on a piece of land called Drum Park was secured. The site had restricted access from Easter Road, a pronounced slope and was in close proximity to Bank Park, the home of Leith Athletic
. There was a sense of continuity from the previous ground, however, and the supporters were keen to get started again. The first match at Easter Road was played on 4 February 1893, a friendly against Clyde
.
Easter Road staged its first Scottish League
match when Hibs joined the league in 1893. The club was successful in this period, winning the Scottish Cup
in 1902 and the league championship in 1903. Despite this success, the club was still apparently looking to move again. Hibs considered relocating to Aberdeen
in 1902, a year before Aberdeen F.C.
was formed. In 1909, work began on a potential new ground in the Piershill
area of Ednburgh, but the North British Railway
company won a court order allowing them to build a railway line over the ground. No line was ever built, but Hibs' interest in moving to the site was thwarted. The long term future of Easter Road was only secured in 1922, when the club agreed a 25 year lease on the ground. Two years later, three banks of terraces were raised, while a main stand seating 4,480 people was built on the west side of the ground.
Hibs enjoyed great success in the period immediately after the end of the Second World War, winning three league championships between 1948 and 1952. This led to greater attendances, with the record attendance of 65,860 set by an Edinburgh derby (against Hearts
) played on 2 January 1950. This is also a record for any football match played in Edinburgh. As the fans had been tightly packed on the terraces to achieve this record attendance, the size of the East Terrace was increased further. The club even drew up plans to expand the overall capacity to nearly 100,000.
Hibs were one of the first clubs to install corner floodlight
pylons, rather than the roof-mounted lights used at Ibrox
. The Easter Road floodlights were installed by a local company, Miller & Stables, who would construct similar leaning gantries in many other Scottish grounds. They were first used for an Edinburgh derby played on 18 October 1954. A roof was put over the North Terrace in 1960, but the ground was largely unchanged through the 1960s and 1970s. Hibs became the first club in Scotland to install undersoil heating, in 1980. Benches were installed in the North Terrace in 1982, but this was only because they were cheaper than replacing the terrace barriers. Soon afterwards, Hibs chairman Kenny Waugh admitted that the stadium was a "mess".
The height of the East Terrace was greatly reduced and a roof was erected in the mid-1980s. This work reduced the capacity to 27,000. Hibs was taken over by a consortium led by David Duff in 1987. The new regime spent approximately £1 million on executive boxes and refurbishments, but their policy of diversifying the business into property and public houses crippled the club financially when there was an economic downturn in the late 1980s. Hearts chairman Wallace Mercer
attempted a takeover of Hibs in June 1990, with the intention of merging the two major Edinburgh football clubs. The Hibs fans protested against this and Mercer was prevented from gaining the 75% shareholding that was needed to close Hibs.
Sir Tom Farmer
took control of Hibs in 1991, but the club was still faced with the need to develop a stadium that would meet the requirements of the Taylor Report
. Hibs entered talks with Edinburgh District Council about sharing a new stadium with Hearts, but the proposed site of Ingliston
was in the wrong part of the city for Hibs. The club was more interested in the possibility of playing at Meadowbank Stadium
, only a few hundred yards from Easter Road, but there were planning difficulties with adapting Meadowbank into a large football stadium.
The reorganisation of the club after Farmer took control meant that there was no real pressure to move, as he also owned Easter Road. The Hibs board made an assessment, however, that the ground could not be renovated in a cost-effective fashion before the August 1994 deadline set by the Taylor Report. Hibs proposed in January 1992 to sell Easter Road and move to a site owned by Farmer in Straiton. Hibs also invited Hearts to share this stadium, as their proposal for a site in Millerhill had been rejected by planners. Those plans were scaled down in 1993 when Lothian Regional Council refused to allow the rest of the Straiton site to be used for commercial development. The Hibs board continued to back the Straiton proposal and they insisted the installation of bucket seats in the uncovered South Terrace was merely to comply with the Taylor Report deadline. This measure also reduced the capacity of Easter Road to 13,500.
Later in 1994, however, the Straiton proposals were abandoned and Easter Road underwent major redevelopment in 1995. Stands behind each goal were built at a cost of £8 million, increasing the capacity to 16,531. The ground was made all seated by the installation of bucket seats in the East Terrace during 1995. Views of the pitch from this stand were somewhat restricted by supporting pillars. The Easter Road slope, which meant that the north end of the pitch was 1.8 metres lower than the south, was removed at the end of the 1999–2000 season. The West Stand was built in 2001 to replace the ageing main stand, increasing capacity to 17,500.
Despite this development work, a move to a shared stadium in Straiton was again proposed in 2003. Hibs hoped that selling the Easter Road site would allow them to clear their debts and reduce costs. Club director Rod Petrie
commented that any decision would be based on financial grounds and after consultation with the fanbase, as the club were not being forced to move. Farmer expressed support for further redeveloping Easter Road, if it could be part of a viable business plan. During the consultation, Farmer said that his main priority was ensuring the club's survival and denied that any deal had been concluded. The consultation found that the fans were largely opposed to the Straiton proposal, which the club eventually abandoned. To remove part of the debt, the club sold some land to the east of the stadium that had previously been used for car parking. Selling players, including Steven Whittaker
, Scott Brown, Kevin Thomson
and Steven Fletcher
, also funded these debts and further work.
The club first obtained planning permission
to replace the East Stand in 1999, and this was renewed in 2005. Hibs started a consultation with supporters on its redevelopment in 2007. The development was put on hold until sufficient cash resources were obtained to finance the project. The consultation process found that a single tier stand would be most popular with the fans. Petrie announced at the 2009 annual general meeting
that the club would enter negotiations with contractors to establish the cost of rebuilding the stand. After these negotiations were concluded, Hibs announced in February 2010 that work would immediately begin on a new East Stand, increasing capacity to 20,421. Demolition of the old stand began in early March, and the stand was opened a month ahead of schedule in August 2010.
when the East Stand was rebuilt. Between the two tiers of the Famous Five Stand there are function suites and lounges.
The West Stand, which initially had a capacity of 6,500, was built in 2001. A reception area, club offices, media centre, banqueting suites, hospitality area and changing rooms are located in the West Stand. The capacity of the West Stand was reduced slightly when the new East Stand was constructed in 2010, as the pitch was widened during this development. The East Stand, which is the newest part of the stadium, was built in 2010. It is the only stand that is not split into two tiers and has a capacity of 6,400. The decision to build the East Stand as a single tier was taken to maintain the character of the old terrace, which had been a simple viewing area without many facilities.
club Raith Rovers
used Easter Road as a home venue once, for the home leg of a UEFA Cup
tie against Bayern Munich in 1995. The match was moved from Rovers' normal home ground of Stark's Park
due to Easter Road's greater capacity. Easter Road has sometimes played host to Scottish League Cup
semi-final matches, such as in the 1996, 1998, 2004, 2005 and 2006 competitions. Team managers Terry Butcher
and Gus MacPherson
have objected to playing semi-finals at Easter Road, on the grounds that their players should have the chance to play at Hampden Park
, or that playing Hearts
in Edinburgh gives them a form of home advantage
.
Scotland
have played four full international matches at Easter Road. These have been friendly matches against less attractive opposition where a relatively small crowd was expected, and it has therefore been unnecessary to play the match at Hampden Park. The Scotland under-21
team has also sometimes played matches at Easter Road, such as when Scotland played Iceland in the 2011 UEFA European Under-21 Football Championship qualification play-offs
. The most recent full international played at the stadium was a friendly match involving South Korea and Ghana
, played in advance of the 2006 World Cup
. International stars such as Michael Essien
, Stephen Appiah
and Park Ji-Sung
played in the match, which Ghana won 3–1.
team in the late 1990s. Heineken Cup
matches against Ebbw Vale
and Toulouse
were played at the ground during the 1998–99 season, with attendances of a few thousand. Edinburgh again expressed interest in using Easter Road in both 2004 and 2006, but this was opposed by Hibs manager Tony Mowbray
, who was concerned that playing rugby would damage the pitch. One of the hospitality suites within the stadium staged an amateur boxing
show on 15 November 2009.
performed Easter Road's first rock concert on 25 June 2005. The international headquarters of the Homeless World Cup
is based in the South Stand of the stadium.
, the main station in Edinburgh, is approximately 1.5 miles (2.4 km) from the stadium; the walk between the two sites takes approximately 20 minutes. There was a railway halt immediately beside the ground, part of the Edinburgh, Leith and Newhaven Railway
, which was opened in 1950 and closed in 1967. The Edinburgh Trams system was to have served the stadium by the McDonald Road tram stop
on Leith Walk
, but this part of the line was cancelled in June 2011 due to delays and cost overruns. Easter Road is served by several Lothian Buses
routes. Services 7, 10, 11, 12, 14, 16, 22, 25 and 49 run down Leith Walk
; services 1 and 35 run down Easter Road
itself; services 4, 5, 15, 19, 26, 34 and 44 run along London Road and routes 34 and 49 serve Lochend Road. Several First Edinburgh
routes also serve the area. Visitors to the ground travelling by car can park in the surrounding streets.
Leith
-South Leith v. North Leith:Up until the late 16th century Leith , comprised two separate towns on either side of the river....
area of Edinburgh
Edinburgh
Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland, the second largest city in Scotland, and the eighth most populous in the United Kingdom. The City of Edinburgh Council governs one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas. The council area includes urban Edinburgh and a rural area...
, Scotland
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
, which is the home ground of Scottish Premier League
Scottish Premier League
The Scottish Premier League , also known as the SPL , is a professional league competition for association football clubs in Scotland...
club Hibernian
Hibernian F.C.
Hibernian Football Club are a Scottish professional football club based in Leith, in the north of Edinburgh. They are one of two Scottish Premier League clubs in the city, the other being their Edinburgh derby rivals, Hearts...
(Hibs). The stadium currently has an all-seated capacity of 20,421, which makes it the fifth-largest football stadium in Scotland. Easter Road is also known by Hibs fans as "The Holy Ground" or "The Leith San Siro
San Siro
The Stadio Giuseppe Meazza, originally and commonly referred to as the San Siro because of its location, officially given its current name on 3 March 1980, is a football stadium located in the San Siro district in Milan, Italy. It is the home of both A.C. Milan and F.C. Internazionale Milano...
". The venue has also been used to stage international matches, Scottish League Cup
Scottish League Cup
The Scottish League Cup is a football competition open to all Scottish Football League and Scottish Premier League clubs. At present it is also known as the Scottish Communities League Cup owing to the sponsorship deal in place with the Scottish Government. In the past it has been sponsored by...
semi-finals and was briefly the home ground of the Edinburgh professional rugby union
Rugby union
Rugby union, often simply referred to as rugby, is a full contact team sport which originated in England in the early 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand...
team.
Hibs first played at the present site of Easter Road in 1893. The record attendance of 65,860, when the stadium had vast terracing sections, was set by an Edinburgh derby
Edinburgh derby
The Edinburgh derby is an informal title given to any football match played between Scottish clubs Heart of Midlothian and Hibernian , the two professional clubs based in Edinburgh, Scotland. The two clubs have a fierce rivalry that dates back to the clubs being founded in the mid-1870s, which...
on 2 January 1950. The size of the terracing was greatly reduced in the 1980s. After the publication of the Taylor Report
Taylor Report
The Hillsborough Stadium Disaster Inquiry report, better known as the Taylor Report is a document, whose development was overseen by Lord Taylor of Gosforth, concerning the aftermath and causes of the Hillsborough disaster in 1989. An interim report was published in August 1989, and the final...
, Hibs considered leaving Easter Road and moving to a different site, but these plans were abandoned in 1994. Redevelopment of the stadium began in 1995 and was finally completed in 2010. The Easter Road pitch had a pronounced slope until it was removed at the end of the 1999–20000 season.
History
Hibernian played its first match on the MeadowsThe Meadows (park)
The Meadows is a large public park in Edinburgh, Scotland, just to the south of the city centre. Largely consisting of wide open grassland crossed by tree-lined paths, the park also has a children's playground, a croquet club, tennis courts and cricket pitches...
, on 25 December 1875. The club first moved to the Easter Road area
Easter Road, Edinburgh
Easter Road is a main road in Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland. It links Leith with Abbeyhill. It is so called as it was originally the 'Easter Road to Leith', ie the road from Edinburgh to Leith which was furthest East. There is no connection to Easter the Christian festival...
in 1880, to a ground known as Hibernian Park
Hibernian Park
Hibernian Park was the home ground of the Scottish football club Hibernian from 1880 until the club's dissolution in 1891. When the club was reformed in 1892, the club took out on a lease on a site which became known as Easter Road...
. This location had the advantage of being equidistant between their two main sources of support, the Irish immigrant communities in the port of Leith
Leith
-South Leith v. North Leith:Up until the late 16th century Leith , comprised two separate towns on either side of the river....
and the Old Town
Old Town
Old Town is the typical designation of a historic or original core of a city or town. Although the city may be larger in its present form, many cities have redesignated this part of the city to commemorate its origins after thorough renovations...
of Edinburgh. When Hibs suffered financial difficulties in the early 1890s, the lease on Hibernian Park expired and developers started building what would become Bothwell Street. The club was reformed in 1892 and a lease on a piece of land called Drum Park was secured. The site had restricted access from Easter Road, a pronounced slope and was in close proximity to Bank Park, the home of Leith Athletic
Leith Athletic F.C.
Leith Athletic Football Club is a football club based in the Leith area of Edinburgh, Scotland. It is a member of the East of Scotland Football League. It plays most of its home games at Leith Links. The club was originally formed in 1887 and played in the Scottish Football League in four different...
. There was a sense of continuity from the previous ground, however, and the supporters were keen to get started again. The first match at Easter Road was played on 4 February 1893, a friendly against Clyde
Clyde F.C.
Clyde Football Club are a Scottish professional football team currently playing in the Third Division of the Scottish Football League. Although based for the last fifteen years in the new town of Cumbernauld, they are traditionally associated with an area that covers Rutherglen in South...
.
Scottish Football League
The Scottish Football League is a league of football teams in Scotland, comprising theScottish First Division, Scottish Second Division and Scottish Third Division. From the league's foundation in 1890 until the breakaway Scottish Premier League was formed in 1998, the Scottish Football League...
match when Hibs joined the league in 1893. The club was successful in this period, winning the Scottish Cup
Scottish Cup
The Scottish Football Association Challenge Cup,, commonly known as the Scottish Cup or the William Hill Scottish Cup for sponsorship purposes, is the main national cup competition in Scottish football. It is a knockout cup competition run by and named after the Scottish Football Association.The...
in 1902 and the league championship in 1903. Despite this success, the club was still apparently looking to move again. Hibs considered relocating to Aberdeen
Aberdeen
Aberdeen is Scotland's third most populous city, one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas and the United Kingdom's 25th most populous city, with an official population estimate of ....
in 1902, a year before Aberdeen F.C.
Aberdeen F.C.
Aberdeen Football Club are a Scottish professional football club based in Aberdeen...
was formed. In 1909, work began on a potential new ground in the Piershill
Piershill
Piershill is a suburb of north east Edinburgh, Scotland, in the shadow of Arthur's Seat.It is mainly residential, with local amenities including a large Morrisons supermarket and filling station, bank, public library, optician, pharmacy, several takeaway restaurants and specialist retailers along...
area of Ednburgh, but the North British Railway
North British Railway
The North British Railway was a Scottish railway company that was absorbed into the London and North Eastern Railway at the Grouping in 1923.-History:...
company won a court order allowing them to build a railway line over the ground. No line was ever built, but Hibs' interest in moving to the site was thwarted. The long term future of Easter Road was only secured in 1922, when the club agreed a 25 year lease on the ground. Two years later, three banks of terraces were raised, while a main stand seating 4,480 people was built on the west side of the ground.
Hibs enjoyed great success in the period immediately after the end of the Second World War, winning three league championships between 1948 and 1952. This led to greater attendances, with the record attendance of 65,860 set by an Edinburgh derby (against Hearts
Heart of Midlothian F.C.
Heart of Midlothian Football Club are a Scottish professional football club based in Gorgie, in the west of Edinburgh. They currently play in the Scottish Premier League and are one of the two principal clubs in the city, the other being Hibernian...
) played on 2 January 1950. This is also a record for any football match played in Edinburgh. As the fans had been tightly packed on the terraces to achieve this record attendance, the size of the East Terrace was increased further. The club even drew up plans to expand the overall capacity to nearly 100,000.
Hibs were one of the first clubs to install corner floodlight
Floodlight
A floodlight is an artificial light providing even illumination across a wide area.* High-intensity discharge lamp, the class of lamp itself* Stage lighting instrument, the types associated with Stage productions...
pylons, rather than the roof-mounted lights used at Ibrox
Ibrox Stadium
Ibrox Stadium is a football stadium located on the south side of the River Clyde, on Edmiston Drive in the Ibrox district of Glasgow. It is the home ground of Scottish Premier League club Rangers and has an all-seated capacity of 51,082...
. The Easter Road floodlights were installed by a local company, Miller & Stables, who would construct similar leaning gantries in many other Scottish grounds. They were first used for an Edinburgh derby played on 18 October 1954. A roof was put over the North Terrace in 1960, but the ground was largely unchanged through the 1960s and 1970s. Hibs became the first club in Scotland to install undersoil heating, in 1980. Benches were installed in the North Terrace in 1982, but this was only because they were cheaper than replacing the terrace barriers. Soon afterwards, Hibs chairman Kenny Waugh admitted that the stadium was a "mess".
Wallace Mercer
Wallace Mercer was chairman of the Scottish football club Heart of Midlothian from 1981 to 1994.-Hearts:He is remembered mainly for improving the fortunes of Hearts during the early 1980s...
attempted a takeover of Hibs in June 1990, with the intention of merging the two major Edinburgh football clubs. The Hibs fans protested against this and Mercer was prevented from gaining the 75% shareholding that was needed to close Hibs.
Sir Tom Farmer
Tom Farmer
Sir Thomas "Tom" Farmer, CVO, CBE, KCSG, FRSE, DL is a Scottish entrepreneur.One of seven siblings in a devoutly Catholic family, in 1964 Farmer founded his own tyre retailing business which he sold in 1969 for £450,000. Farmer "retired" to the United States, but became bored and decided to find a...
took control of Hibs in 1991, but the club was still faced with the need to develop a stadium that would meet the requirements of the Taylor Report
Taylor Report
The Hillsborough Stadium Disaster Inquiry report, better known as the Taylor Report is a document, whose development was overseen by Lord Taylor of Gosforth, concerning the aftermath and causes of the Hillsborough disaster in 1989. An interim report was published in August 1989, and the final...
. Hibs entered talks with Edinburgh District Council about sharing a new stadium with Hearts, but the proposed site of Ingliston
Ingliston
Ingliston is an area in the west of Edinburgh, Scotland.It is south of Edinburgh Airport and home to the Royal Highland Showground.From 1965 to 1992 motor racing took place at Ingliston Motor Racing circuit, which was located within the Royal Highland Showground.From 1973 to 2005, Ingliston held a...
was in the wrong part of the city for Hibs. The club was more interested in the possibility of playing at Meadowbank Stadium
Meadowbank Stadium
Meadowbank Stadium is a multi-purpose sports facility located at Meadowbank, in Edinburgh, Scotland. It hosted the Commonwealth Games of 1970 and 1986.-Layout:...
, only a few hundred yards from Easter Road, but there were planning difficulties with adapting Meadowbank into a large football stadium.
The reorganisation of the club after Farmer took control meant that there was no real pressure to move, as he also owned Easter Road. The Hibs board made an assessment, however, that the ground could not be renovated in a cost-effective fashion before the August 1994 deadline set by the Taylor Report. Hibs proposed in January 1992 to sell Easter Road and move to a site owned by Farmer in Straiton. Hibs also invited Hearts to share this stadium, as their proposal for a site in Millerhill had been rejected by planners. Those plans were scaled down in 1993 when Lothian Regional Council refused to allow the rest of the Straiton site to be used for commercial development. The Hibs board continued to back the Straiton proposal and they insisted the installation of bucket seats in the uncovered South Terrace was merely to comply with the Taylor Report deadline. This measure also reduced the capacity of Easter Road to 13,500.
Later in 1994, however, the Straiton proposals were abandoned and Easter Road underwent major redevelopment in 1995. Stands behind each goal were built at a cost of £8 million, increasing the capacity to 16,531. The ground was made all seated by the installation of bucket seats in the East Terrace during 1995. Views of the pitch from this stand were somewhat restricted by supporting pillars. The Easter Road slope, which meant that the north end of the pitch was 1.8 metres lower than the south, was removed at the end of the 1999–2000 season. The West Stand was built in 2001 to replace the ageing main stand, increasing capacity to 17,500.
Despite this development work, a move to a shared stadium in Straiton was again proposed in 2003. Hibs hoped that selling the Easter Road site would allow them to clear their debts and reduce costs. Club director Rod Petrie
Rod Petrie
Roderick McKenzie Petrie is the chairman and former chief executive of Scottish football club Hibernian.- Career :Petrie, a merchant banker and chartered Accountant, had advised Sir Tom Farmer CBE throughout his rescue of Hibernian FC from receivership in 1991...
commented that any decision would be based on financial grounds and after consultation with the fanbase, as the club were not being forced to move. Farmer expressed support for further redeveloping Easter Road, if it could be part of a viable business plan. During the consultation, Farmer said that his main priority was ensuring the club's survival and denied that any deal had been concluded. The consultation found that the fans were largely opposed to the Straiton proposal, which the club eventually abandoned. To remove part of the debt, the club sold some land to the east of the stadium that had previously been used for car parking. Selling players, including Steven Whittaker
Steven Whittaker
Steven Gordon Whittaker is a Scottish association footballer who currently plays as a right back for Scottish Premier League club Rangers and the Scotland national side....
, Scott Brown, Kevin Thomson
Kevin Thomson
Kevin Thomson is a Scottish association footballer who plays for Middlesbrough and the Scotland national football team. Thomson began his career with Hibernian before joining Rangers in 2007 for a £2m transfer fee. He plays as a defensive midfielder with key attributes of passing and tackling...
and Steven Fletcher
Steven Fletcher (footballer)
Steven Kenneth Fletcher is a Scottish international footballer who plays as a striker. He is currently signed to English Premier League club Wolverhampton Wanderers....
, also funded these debts and further work.
The club first obtained planning permission
Planning permission
Planning permission or planning consent is the permission required in the United Kingdom in order to be allowed to build on land, or change the use of land or buildings. Within the UK the occupier of any land or building will need title to that land or building , but will also need "planning...
to replace the East Stand in 1999, and this was renewed in 2005. Hibs started a consultation with supporters on its redevelopment in 2007. The development was put on hold until sufficient cash resources were obtained to finance the project. The consultation process found that a single tier stand would be most popular with the fans. Petrie announced at the 2009 annual general meeting
Annual general meeting
An annual general meeting is a meeting that official bodies, and associations involving the public , are often required by law to hold...
that the club would enter negotiations with contractors to establish the cost of rebuilding the stand. After these negotiations were concluded, Hibs announced in February 2010 that work would immediately begin on a new East Stand, increasing capacity to 20,421. Demolition of the old stand began in early March, and the stand was opened a month ahead of schedule in August 2010.
Structure and facilities
Easter Road is an all-seated stadium, split into four geographic sections, known as the Famous Five (formerly North), East, South and West Stands. The Famous Five and South Stands are the oldest part of the present stadium, built in 1995. Each stand has two tiers, a cantilevered roof and a capacity of nearly 4,000. To keep within the boundaries of the site, the upper deck of each stand angles toward the centre. When the stands were built, the Famous Five Stand was above pitch level and the South Stand was below, but this was corrected when the natural slope was removed. Each stand also stretched beyond the east touchline, which was corrected by widening the pitchAssociation football pitch
An association football pitch is the playing surface for the game of association football made of turf. Its dimensions and markings are defined by Law 1 of the Laws of the Game, "The Field of Play".All line markings on the pitch form part of the area which they define...
when the East Stand was rebuilt. Between the two tiers of the Famous Five Stand there are function suites and lounges.
The West Stand, which initially had a capacity of 6,500, was built in 2001. A reception area, club offices, media centre, banqueting suites, hospitality area and changing rooms are located in the West Stand. The capacity of the West Stand was reduced slightly when the new East Stand was constructed in 2010, as the pitch was widened during this development. The East Stand, which is the newest part of the stadium, was built in 2010. It is the only stand that is not split into two tiers and has a capacity of 6,400. The decision to build the East Stand as a single tier was taken to maintain the character of the old terrace, which had been a simple viewing area without many facilities.
Other football matches
KirkcaldyKirkcaldy
Kirkcaldy is a town and former royal burgh in Fife, on the east coast of Scotland. The town lies on a shallow bay on the northern shore of the Firth of Forth; SSE of Glenrothes, ENE of Dunfermline, WSW of Dundee and NNE of Edinburgh...
club Raith Rovers
Raith Rovers F.C.
Raith Rovers Football Club is a Scottish professional football club based in Kirkcaldy, Fife. They are members of the Scottish Football League, currently playing in the First Division, having secured promotion from the Second Division as champions in 2009. Rovers have won one national trophy, the...
used Easter Road as a home venue once, for the home leg of a UEFA Cup
UEFA Cup
The UEFA Europa League is an annual association football cup competition organised by UEFA since 1971 for eligible European football clubs. It is the second most prestigious European club football contest after the UEFA Champions League...
tie against Bayern Munich in 1995. The match was moved from Rovers' normal home ground of Stark's Park
Stark's Park
Stark's Park is a football stadium in Kirkcaldy, Scotland. It is the home ground of Raith Rovers F.C..-History:The ground was opened in 1891 and seats 10,104. It is located in Kirkcaldy, Fife...
due to Easter Road's greater capacity. Easter Road has sometimes played host to Scottish League Cup
Scottish League Cup
The Scottish League Cup is a football competition open to all Scottish Football League and Scottish Premier League clubs. At present it is also known as the Scottish Communities League Cup owing to the sponsorship deal in place with the Scottish Government. In the past it has been sponsored by...
semi-final matches, such as in the 1996, 1998, 2004, 2005 and 2006 competitions. Team managers Terry Butcher
Terry Butcher
Terence Ian "Terry" Butcher is an English football manager and former player. He was a highly successful football player and made his name as an uncompromising defender with Ipswich Town and Rangers in the 1980s. He was also a captain of England and won 77 caps in a ten-year international career...
and Gus MacPherson
Gus MacPherson
Angus Ian MacPherson is a Scottish former football player and manager. MacPherson played for Kilmarnock for over a decade, making over 350 league appearances. After retiring as a player in 2003, he became manager of St. Mirren, a position he held until May 2010. MacPherson took St...
have objected to playing semi-finals at Easter Road, on the grounds that their players should have the chance to play at Hampden Park
Hampden Park
Hampden Park is a football stadium in the Mount Florida area of Glasgow, Scotland. The 52,063 capacity venue serves as the national stadium of football in Scotland...
, or that playing Hearts
Heart of Midlothian F.C.
Heart of Midlothian Football Club are a Scottish professional football club based in Gorgie, in the west of Edinburgh. They currently play in the Scottish Premier League and are one of the two principal clubs in the city, the other being Hibernian...
in Edinburgh gives them a form of home advantage
Home Field Advantage
Home Field Advantage is a 2000 independent film starring Tony Award-winning actor Dan Fogler in the role of Charlie....
.
Scotland
Scotland national football team
The Scotland national football team represents Scotland in international football and is controlled by the Scottish Football Association. Scotland are the joint oldest national football team in the world, alongside England, whom they played in the world's first international football match in 1872...
have played four full international matches at Easter Road. These have been friendly matches against less attractive opposition where a relatively small crowd was expected, and it has therefore been unnecessary to play the match at Hampden Park. The Scotland under-21
Scotland national under-21 football team
The Scotland national under-21 football team, controlled by the Scottish Football Association, is Scotland's national under 21 football team and is considered to be a feeder team for the Scotland national football team....
team has also sometimes played matches at Easter Road, such as when Scotland played Iceland in the 2011 UEFA European Under-21 Football Championship qualification play-offs
2011 UEFA European Under-21 Football Championship qualification play-offs
The play-off first legs were played on 8 October 2010, while the second legs were played on 12 October 2010. Winners of play-off round and host nation Denmark will participate in the championship next year.-Matches:...
. The most recent full international played at the stadium was a friendly match involving South Korea and Ghana
Ghana national football team
The Ghana national football team, popularly known as the Black Stars, is the national association football team of Ghana and is controlled by the Ghana Football Association...
, played in advance of the 2006 World Cup
2006 FIFA World Cup
The 2006 FIFA World Cup was the 18th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial international football world championship tournament. It was held from 9 June to 9 July 2006 in Germany, which won the right to host the event in July 2000. Teams representing 198 national football associations from all six...
. International stars such as Michael Essien
Michael Essien
Michael Kojo Essien is a Ghanaian footballer who plays for Chelsea and the Ghanaian national team. He is a midfielder who has often been touted as a box-to-box midfielder for his ability to exert boundless energy in supporting offensive and defensive play...
, Stephen Appiah
Stephen Appiah
Stephen Leroy Appiah is a former Ghana International football midfielder and captain. He is currently a free agent. He has played for several European clubs since 1997 and is currently without a club. Appiah was a member of the Ghana national team, which he has represented at the youth, Olympic,...
and Park Ji-Sung
Park Ji-Sung
Park Ji-Sung is a South Korean footballer who plays as a midfielder for English club Manchester United. He was also the captain of the South Korean national team until his retirement from international football...
played in the match, which Ghana won 3–1.
Full internationals
Five full international football matches have been played at Easter Road, all of them since 1998.Other sports
Easter Road was briefly the home ground for the Edinburgh professional rugby unionRugby union
Rugby union, often simply referred to as rugby, is a full contact team sport which originated in England in the early 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand...
team in the late 1990s. Heineken Cup
Heineken Cup
The Heineken Cup is one of two annual rugby union competitions organised by European Rugby Cup involving leading club, regional and provincial teams from the six International Rugby Board countries in Europe whose national teams compete in the Six Nations Championship: England, France, Ireland,...
matches against Ebbw Vale
Ebbw Vale RFC
Ebbw Vale Rugby Football Club is a Welsh Rugby Union Club based in the town of Ebbw Vale, Blaenau Gwent, South Wales. The club currently play in the WRU Division One East and the SWALEC Cup. It also acts as a feeder club for the Newport Gwent Dragons....
and Toulouse
Stade Toulousain
Stade Toulousain, also referred to as Toulouse, is a French rugby union club from Toulouse in Midi-Pyrénées. Toulouse is one of the finest rugby clubs in Europe, having won the Heineken Cup four times – in 1996, 2003, 2005 and 2010. They were also runners-up in 2004 and 2008 against London Wasps...
were played at the ground during the 1998–99 season, with attendances of a few thousand. Edinburgh again expressed interest in using Easter Road in both 2004 and 2006, but this was opposed by Hibs manager Tony Mowbray
Tony Mowbray
Anthony Mark "Tony" Mowbray is an English former professional football player, who is currently the manager of Middlesbrough...
, who was concerned that playing rugby would damage the pitch. One of the hospitality suites within the stadium staged an amateur boxing
Amateur boxing
Amateur boxing is practised at the collegiate level, at the Olympic Games and Commonwealth Games, and in many other venues sponsored by amateur boxing associations. Amateur boxing bouts are short in duration and fighters wear head protection, so this type of competition prizes point-scoring rather...
show on 15 November 2009.
Uses other than sport
Elton JohnElton John
Sir Elton Hercules John, CBE, Hon DMus is an English rock singer-songwriter, composer, pianist and occasional actor...
performed Easter Road's first rock concert on 25 June 2005. The international headquarters of the Homeless World Cup
Homeless World Cup
-The Cause:There are one billion homeless people in our world today. This is a global issue that affects every nation.Homelessness can force people into isolation, which affects their ability to share, communicate their thoughts and work with others...
is based in the South Stand of the stadium.
Transport
Edinburgh Waverley railway stationEdinburgh Waverley railway station
Edinburgh Waverley railway station is the main railway station in the Scottish capital Edinburgh. Covering an area of over 25 acres in the centre of the city, it is the second-largest main line railway station in the United Kingdom in terms of area, the largest being...
, the main station in Edinburgh, is approximately 1.5 miles (2.4 km) from the stadium; the walk between the two sites takes approximately 20 minutes. There was a railway halt immediately beside the ground, part of the Edinburgh, Leith and Newhaven Railway
Edinburgh, Leith and Newhaven Railway
The Edinburgh, Leith and Newhaven Railway, which later became the Edinburgh, Leith and Granton Railway, was a railway in Edinburgh. It carried passengers and freight between the city centre and the northern ports. It was Edinburgh's second railway, after the Duke of Buccleuch's Edinburgh and...
, which was opened in 1950 and closed in 1967. The Edinburgh Trams system was to have served the stadium by the McDonald Road tram stop
McDonald Road tram stop
McDonald Road tram stop was to be one of several Edinburgh Trams Phase 1a tram stops beyond St Andrews Square. It was cancelled due to cost overruns in June 2011.-External links:**...
on Leith Walk
Leith Walk
Leith Walk is one of the longest streets in Edinburgh, Scotland. It stretches from The Foot Of Leith Walk at the junction of Great Junction Street and Constitution Street to the junction with London Road, it then links to the east end of Princes Street via Leith Street...
, but this part of the line was cancelled in June 2011 due to delays and cost overruns. Easter Road is served by several Lothian Buses
Lothian Buses
Lothian Buses Plc is the only municipal bus company in Scotland and the largest provider of bus services in Edinburgh, Scotland. City of Edinburgh Council own 91.01% of the company with the remainder being owned by East Lothian and Midlothian councils. As well as serving Edinburgh, Lothian Buses...
routes. Services 7, 10, 11, 12, 14, 16, 22, 25 and 49 run down Leith Walk
Leith Walk
Leith Walk is one of the longest streets in Edinburgh, Scotland. It stretches from The Foot Of Leith Walk at the junction of Great Junction Street and Constitution Street to the junction with London Road, it then links to the east end of Princes Street via Leith Street...
; services 1 and 35 run down Easter Road
Easter Road, Edinburgh
Easter Road is a main road in Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland. It links Leith with Abbeyhill. It is so called as it was originally the 'Easter Road to Leith', ie the road from Edinburgh to Leith which was furthest East. There is no connection to Easter the Christian festival...
itself; services 4, 5, 15, 19, 26, 34 and 44 run along London Road and routes 34 and 49 serve Lochend Road. Several First Edinburgh
First Edinburgh
First Edinburgh is a bus operator which operates in the south east and central Scotland, and was created by the merger of three companies: Lowland Scottish, Eastern Scottish and Midland Scottish to form a single company for the area and is part of First Group plc...
routes also serve the area. Visitors to the ground travelling by car can park in the surrounding streets.