Meadowbank Stadium facts for kids

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Meadowbank Stadium
Construction
Redeveloped Meadowbank's pitch, track and small stand in front of indoor sport facility (2023)
Meadowbank Stadium Location in Edinburgh
Former names	New Meadowbank, Old Meadowbank
Location	Meadowbank, Edinburgh, Scotland
Coordinates	55°57′25″N 3°9′31″W / 55.95694°N 3.15861°W / 55.95694; -3.15861
Type	Outdoor Sports / Concert Stadium
Seating type	Individual backed seats in stand, bench seats all other areas
Capacity	1,320 (500 seated)
Built	1967–1970
Opened	1970; 55 years ago (1970)
Renovated	1994, 1999, 2017–2022
Tenants
Meadowbank Thistle F.C. (1974–1995) Edinburgh City (1996–2017; 2022–) Edinburgh Rugby (2002–2004) Leith Athletic F.C. (3G pitch, 2013–2017; 2022–) Hibernian W.F.C. (2022–)
Website
Edinburgh Leisure

Meadowbank Stadium, also known as the Meadowbank Sports Centre, is a big sports place in Meadowbank, Scotland. It was built on the site of older sports venues. The stadium was first made to host the Commonwealth Games in 1970. It hosted the Games again in 1986, which was a first for any venue!

Today, it's the home ground for the Scottish League Two football team, Edinburgh City. Many other sports and events have taken place here over the years.

The stadium has always been important for football. From 1974 to 1995, it was home to Meadowbank Thistle. It was even the first football ground in the UK where all fans had seats. Later, Edinburgh City played here. In 2016, league football returned when City joined the Scottish Professional Football League. Another team, Leith Athletic, also uses the artificial pitch next to the main stadium.

In 2017, the old stadium closed down. It was knocked down in 2019 to make way for a brand new, modern sports centre. The new Meadowbank opened in 2022. Now, Edinburgh City, Leith Athletic, and the Hibernian Women's FC all play there.

Meadowbank Stadium was also used for rugby union. The team Edinburgh Rugby played their home games here from 2002 to 2004.

What Meadowbank Stadium Looks Like
How Meadowbank Stadium Has Been Used
New Meadowbank: Redevelopment and Renovation
Images for kids
See also

What Meadowbank Stadium Looks Like

The stadium has one main stand where people can sit. This stand can hold 500 seated fans. Before the stadium was rebuilt in 2017, it could hold up to 5,000 people in total.

How Meadowbank Stadium Has Been Used

View of a football match from Meadowbank's original stand

Hosting the Commonwealth Games

Meadowbank Stadium was specially built for the 1970 Commonwealth Games. It cost about £2.8 million to build. Prince Edward, Duke of Kent officially opened it on May 2, 1970. The 1970 Games were very successful.

Meadowbank also hosted the Commonwealth Games in 1986. This made it the first place ever to host the Games twice! The 1986 Games faced some challenges. Many countries chose not to take part because of disagreements over a policy called apartheid in South Africa.

The stadium even had its own train station built for the 1986 Games. In August 2000, Meadowbank hosted the first-ever Commonwealth Youth Games.

Football Matches at Meadowbank

Meadowbank Thistle played at the stadium starting in 1974. Some people thought it wasn't the best place for football. This was because the stadium was big enough for 5,000 fans, but often fewer than 1,000 came to watch. Also, a running track separated the fans from the pitch, making it feel far away.

In 1995, Meadowbank Thistle decided to move to Livingston. Their last game as Meadowbank Thistle was in May 1995. They continued to play at Meadowbank as Livingston until their new stadium was ready later that year.

After Meadowbank Thistle left, Edinburgh City moved in. In July 2016, they played their first game there as an SPFL club. It was against Livingston! Leith Athletic also joined them. The famous club Hibernian has also used Meadowbank for some of their reserve team games.

Edinburgh City and the Hibernian women's team both returned to play at the new Meadowbank in July 2022.

Music Concerts

Meadowbank Stadium before a Radiohead concert at T on the Fringe in 2006

Meadowbank was a popular place for big music concerts. It could hold 25,000 people! It was part of a music festival called T on the Fringe. Many famous bands played here between 2005 and 2007. These included Muse, My Chemical Romance, Snow Patrol, Radiohead, Pixies, Foo Fighters, Nine Inch Nails, Kaiser Chiefs, and Razorlight. In 2008, the festival changed its name, and Meadowbank was no longer a main concert spot.

In 1989, the band Simple Minds played at Meadowbank. They had planned to play at Murrayfield, but changed their minds. This was because the band strongly disagreed with the Scottish Rugby Union's decision to play in South Africa at that time.

Rifle Shooting

In the 1970s and 1980s, Meadowbank had special indoor ranges for rifle shooting. These ranges closed in 1990 but were fixed up in 2014. They were used for training by Scotland's top shooting athletes before the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow. The ranges stayed open until the stadium closed in 2017. The new Meadowbank doesn't have these shooting facilities.

Basketball Games

Meadowbank Stadium had basketball courts in three of its big halls. However, they were not often open for everyone to use. The Edinburgh Rocks basketball team used one of the halls until they moved to a different arena and changed their name.

Track Cycling

Meadowbank Stadium track

The Meadowbank velodrome was a special track for cycling. It was 250 metres long and made of African wood. It was built for the 1986 Commonwealth Games. Famous cyclists like Chris Hoy and Craig MacLean trained here. Over the years, fewer people used the track. This was mainly because a much better velodrome was built elsewhere. A local cycling club still held events there until it finally closed on September 2, 2017.

Rugby Matches

Old Meadowbank Stadium

The professional rugby union team Edinburgh Gunners played at Meadowbank from 2002. They moved to Murrayfield Stadium in 2004.

Boxing Events

Meadowbank Stadium was used for many boxing events. Hall 1 hosted fights with boxers like Alex Arthur and Ricky Burns. The last big boxing event there was on April 14, 2012.

Taekwondo Championships

In November 2014, the stadium hosted the Commonwealth Taekwondo Championships.

Juggling Convention

Meadowbank was the place for the European Juggling Convention in 1998.

Snooker Tournaments

The sports centre welcomed the professional World Snooker Tour for the 2022 Scottish Open. This tournament usually took place in Glasgow. Meadowbank will be the home for this tournament for the next few years.

New Meadowbank: Redevelopment and Renovation

Threatened trees outside the old Meadowbank Stadium in November 2018

Back in 2006, the City of Edinburgh Council thought about knocking down Meadowbank Stadium. They wanted to sell the land for houses. The idea was to build a smaller sports centre in the east of the city and a new stadium for athletics and rugby in the west.

Many people were unhappy about these plans. More than 6,000 people signed a petition to "Save Meadowbank." About 600 people even marched from the stadium to the City Chambers to protest. The plans for a new stadium elsewhere didn't work out, so the idea to sell Meadowbank was put on hold in 2009. This was because land prices in Edinburgh had dropped.

In 2013, the Council started talking about Meadowbank's future again. They looked at three different plans for rebuilding it. A new design was shown to the public in November 2016. Work was planned to start after the 2016–17 football season. Edinburgh City made a deal to use another ground while Meadowbank was being rebuilt. The last annual fireworks display at the old stadium was on November 5, 2017.

The stadium officially closed for redevelopment in December 2017. The new facilities were expected to open in spring 2020. In July 2018, the Council approved the detailed plans for the new Meadowbank Sports Centre. They also approved plans for houses, student homes, a hotel, and shops on the land around it.

Construction began in 2019 and was finished by 2021. Edinburgh City had hoped to return for the 2021–22 football season. However, due to ongoing work, they had to wait another year. The new Meadowbank Sports Centre is now open and ready for action!