Easter Road facts for kids
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The Leith San Siro
The Holy Ground |
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 Easter Road Stadium
Location in Edinburgh
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| Location | 12 Albion Place Edinburgh EH7 5QG |
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| Coordinates | 55°57′42″N 3°9′56″W / 55.96167°N 3.16556°W |
| Owner | Hibernian F.C. |
| Capacity | 20,421 |
| Record attendance | 65,860 v Hearts 2 January 1950 |
| Surface | Hybrid |
| Construction | |
| Broke ground | 1892 |
| Opened | 1893 |
| Renovated | 2010 |
| Architect | Percy Johnson-Marshall (Famous Five and South Stands) |
| Tenants | |
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Hibernian F.C.
Edinburgh Rugby |
1893–present 1998–1999 |
Easter Road is a famous football stadium in Leith, Edinburgh, Scotland. It's the home ground for the Scottish Premiership team Hibernian, often called Hibs. The stadium can seat 20,421 fans, making it the fifth-largest football stadium in Scotland.
Hibs fans sometimes call Easter Road "The Holy Ground" or "The Leith San Siro". It has also hosted international football games and Scottish League Cup semi-finals. For a short time, it was even home to the Edinburgh professional rugby union team.
Hibs started playing at Easter Road in 1893. The stadium holds a record for the biggest crowd at a Scottish football match outside Glasgow. On January 2, 1950, 65,860 people watched a game between Hibs and Hearts. The stadium has been updated many times over the years, with the latest big changes finished in 2010.
Contents
History of Easter Road Stadium
Easter Road has a long and interesting history, full of changes and improvements.
How Easter Road Started (1893–1945)
The Hibernian football club played its very first game on Christmas Day in 1875. They moved to the Easter Road area in 1880, to a place called Hibernian Park. This spot was great because it was easy for fans from both Leith and the Old Town of Edinburgh to reach.
In the early 1890s, Hibs faced money problems. Their lease on Hibernian Park ended, and new buildings were planned there. The club was restarted in 1892 and found a new piece of land called Drum Park. This new spot became Easter Road. The first game played at Easter Road was a friendly match against Clyde on February 4, 1893.
Easter Road hosted its first Scottish League game when Hibs joined the league in 1893. For many years, Hibs only rented the land, which meant they couldn't build much. In 1922, the club finally secured a 25-year lease, which allowed them to make big improvements.
Two years later, in 1924, new seating areas were built. A main stand with 4,480 seats was added on the west side. After these changes, the stadium could hold 45,000 people. The playing field was also moved to make space for the new main stand.
After the War (1945–1991)
After World War II, Hibs had a very successful time, winning three league championships between 1948 and 1952. In 1955, Easter Road became the first British stadium to host a European Cup football match.
The record attendance of 65,860 fans was set on January 2, 1950, during a game against Hearts. This is still the record for any football match played in Edinburgh. To handle such large crowds, the East Terrace (a standing area) was made even bigger. There were even plans to make the stadium hold nearly 100,000 people, but these plans never happened.
Hibs was one of the first clubs to install tall floodlights in 1954. These lights were first used for a game against Hearts. In the early 1960s, a roof was added over the North Terrace. However, the stadium mostly stayed the same through the 1960s and 1970s. In 1975, the capacity was reduced to 30,000 due to new safety rules.
In 1980, Hibs became the first club in Scotland to install undersoil heating to keep the pitch from freezing. In 1982, benches were put in the North Terrace. The East Terrace was made much smaller in the mid-1980s, and a roof was added. This work reduced the stadium's capacity to 27,000.
In 1990, there was an attempt by the chairman of Hearts, Wallace Mercer, to merge the two main Edinburgh football clubs. Hibs fans strongly protested against this idea, and the merger did not happen.
Modern Redevelopment (1991–2010)
In 1991, Sir Tom Farmer took over Hibs. The club needed to update the stadium to meet new safety rules from the Taylor Report. Hibs thought about moving to a new stadium with Hearts, but the location wasn't right for Hibs. They also considered using Meadowbank Stadium, which was close to Easter Road, but there were problems turning it into a large football stadium.
In 1992, Hibs suggested selling Easter Road and moving to a new site in Straiton. They even invited Hearts to share this new stadium. However, these plans were scaled back in 1993. To meet the safety deadline, simple bucket seats were installed in the South Terrace, which reduced the capacity of Easter Road to 13,500.
By 1994, the plans for Straiton were dropped, and Easter Road began a major redevelopment in 1995. New stands were built behind each goal, costing £8 million. This increased the capacity to 16,531. The stadium became all-seated when bucket seats were added to the East Terrace in 1995.
The playing field at Easter Road used to have a noticeable slope, with one end being 6 feet lower than the other. This slope was removed at the end of the 1999–2000 season. In 2001, the West Stand was built to replace the old main stand, increasing the capacity to 17,500.
In 2003, there was another idea to move to a shared stadium in Straiton. Hibs hoped that selling the Easter Road site would help them pay off debts. However, after talking with fans, it was clear that most people did not want to move. So, the club decided to stay at Easter Road. To help with debts, the club sold some land near the stadium and also sold some of its star players.
Hibs had plans to replace the East Stand since 1999. In 2007, they started asking supporters for their ideas. Fans liked the idea of a single-tier stand. In February 2010, Hibs announced that work would begin immediately on a new East Stand. The old stand was taken down in March, and the new stand opened early, in August 2010. This increased the stadium's capacity to 20,421.
Recent Updates (Since 2020)
In 2021, large video screens were added to the corners of the stadium. In January 2024, Hibs announced that special "rail seats" would be installed in the lower part of the Famous Five stand. This change allows for safe standing areas, starting from the 2024–25 season. In July 2025, the East Stand was renamed the Pat Stanton Stand, honoring a club legend.
Stadium Layout and Features
Easter Road is a stadium where all fans have a seat. It's divided into four main sections: the Famous Five Stand (formerly the North Stand), the Pat Stanton Stand (formerly the East Stand), the South Stand, and the West Stand.
The Famous Five and South stands are the oldest parts of the current stadium, built in 1995. Each of these stands has two levels and can hold almost 4,000 people. They have roofs that stick out without pillars, so views are clear. When these stands were first built, the Famous Five Stand was higher than the pitch, and the South Stand was lower. This was fixed when the natural slope of the pitch was removed. Between the two levels of the Famous Five Stand, there are special rooms for events and hospitality.
The West Stand was built in 2001 and first held 6,500 people. This stand houses the main reception, club offices, a media center, dining areas, and changing rooms for the players. Its capacity was slightly reduced when the new East Stand was built in 2010, as the pitch was made wider.
The East Stand, built in 2010, is the newest part of the stadium. It's the only stand with just one level and can hold 6,400 fans. It was designed this way to keep the feeling of the old standing area, which was a simple place for fans to watch the game.
Other Uses of Easter Road
Easter Road isn't just for Hibs games; it's used for other events too!
Other Football Games
Sometimes, other football clubs use Easter Road. For example, Raith Rovers played a UEFA Cup game against Bayern Munich here in 1995 because Easter Road had more seats than their own stadium.
Easter Road has also hosted many Scottish League Cup semi-final matches. These are important games where teams compete to reach the final. Some managers have preferred to play these games at Hampden Park, Scotland's national stadium, but Easter Road has been a popular choice. In 2014, the 2014 Scottish Challenge Cup Final was played here.
The Scotland men's national team has played seven international friendly matches at Easter Road. These games are usually against teams where a smaller crowd is expected, so they don't need to be played at the much larger Hampden Park. The Scotland under-21 team has also played games here. In March 2017, Scotland played a friendly match against Canada at Easter Road. In 2006, a friendly match between South Korea and Ghana was also held here before the World Cup.
The Scotland women's team played their first match at Easter Road in August 2019, a qualifying game for the Euro 2021 tournament against Cyprus.
Men's International Matches
Between 1998 and 2017, eight full men's international football matches were played at Easter Road.
| Date | Team #1 | Result | Team #2 | Competition | Attendance | Ref. |
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| 22 April 1998 | Scotland  |
1–1 |  Finland |
Friendly | 14,315 | |
| 15 October 2002 | Scotland |
3–1 |  Canada |
Friendly | 16,207 | |
| 30 May 2004 | Scotland |
4–1 |  Trinidad and Tobago |
Friendly | 16,187 | |
| 17 November 2004 | Scotland |
1–4 |  Sweden |
Friendly | 15,071 | |
| 4 June 2006 | South Korea  |
1–3 |  Ghana |
Friendly | 7,600 | |
| 15 August 2012 | Scotland |
3–1 |  Australia |
Friendly | 11,110 | |
| 5 June 2015 | Scotland |
1–0 |  Qatar |
Friendly | 14,270 | |
| 22 March 2017 | Scotland |
1–1 | Canada |
Friendly | 9,158 |
Women's International Matches
Easter Road hosted its first women's international match in August 2019.
| Date | Team #1 | Result | Team #2 | Competition | Attendance | Ref. |
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| 30 August 2019 | Scotland  |
8–0 |  Cyprus |
Euro 2021 qualifying | 6,206 | |
| 1 December 2020 | Scotland |
0–1 |  Finland |
Euro 2021 qualifying | 189 | |
| 29 October 2024 | Scotland |
4–0 |  Hungary |
Euro 2025 qualifying play-offs | 8,790 | |
| 29 November 2024 | Scotland |
0–0 | Finland |
Euro 2025 qualifying play-offs | 7,256 |
Other Sports Events
Easter Road was briefly the home of Edinburgh Rugby, a professional rugby union team, in the late 1990s. They played some important European matches here. The Scottish Rugby Union (SRU) even considered using Easter Road for big rugby finals in 2014. In 2015, there was talk of Edinburgh Rugby moving there long-term, but they eventually moved to Myreside in 2017.
One of the stadium's special rooms also hosted an amateur boxing show in 2009.
Non-Sporting Events
Elton John performed the first rock concert at Easter Road on June 25, 2005. The international office for the Homeless World Cup, a football tournament for homeless people, is located in the South Stand of the stadium.
Getting to Easter Road
It's easy to get to Easter Road Stadium!
Edinburgh Waverley, the main train station in Edinburgh, is about 1.5 miles (2.4 km) away. It takes about 20 minutes to walk from the station to the stadium.
The Edinburgh Trams system was extended, and now serves the stadium. You can get off at the McDonald Road tram stop on Leith Walk, which started operating on June 7, 2023. There used to be a small train stop right next to the stadium, but it closed in 1967.
Several Lothian Buses routes serve the area around Easter Road. Buses like 7, 10, 11, 12, 14, 16, 22, 25, and 49 go along Leith Walk. Buses 1 and 35 go directly down Easter Road. Other routes like 4, 5, 15, 19, 26, 34, and 44 run along London Road. You can also find East Coast Buses routes X5, X7, X24/124, 104, and 113 in the area. If you're coming by car, you can usually find parking on the nearby streets.
See also
In Spanish: Estadio Easter Road para niños
- List of stadiums in the United Kingdom by capacity
- Lists of stadiums
