Easter Road is the home ground of Scottish Premier League football club Hibernian. Located in the Leith area of Edinburgh, the stadium has a capacity of 17,500. [1] This means that it is presently the seventh largest stadium in Scotland and the largest stadium used primarily for football in Edinburgh. It is affectionately known by Hibs fans as "The Leith San Siro". [2] 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 January 2 1950. [3] The stadium was long noted for its pronounced slope, but this was removed at the end of the 1999–00 season. [4]

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History

When Hibs were formed in 1875, the club played its matches on the Meadows to the south of the Old Town of Edinburgh. The club first moved to the Easter Road area in 1880, which was on the outskirts of Edinburgh at the time, to a ground known as Hibernian Park. When Hibs suffered financial difficulties in the early 1890s, the lease on Hibernian Park expired. The club then leased the present site in 1892, played their first match there the following year and have played their home games there ever since.

Before the Taylor Report demanded that the stadium be all-seated, the ground had vast banks of terracing on three sides, ^[5] which meant that it could hold crowds in excess of 60,000. Easter Road's record attendance of 65,860, which is also a record for a football match played in Edinburgh, ^{[6] [7]} was set by an Edinburgh derby played on January 2 1950. ^{[8] [9]}

After Sir Tom Farmer took control of Hibernian in 1991, ^[10] the stadium underwent major redevelopment in order to comply with the Taylor Report. Stands behind each goal (the Famous Five Stand and the South Stand) were built in 1995, replacing covered terracing at the north end (known as the Cowshed ^[11]) and open terracing at the south end (known as the Dunbar End).

The West Stand, which has a capacity of 6,500 and is similar in design to the North and South Stands, was built in 2001 to replace the ageing main stand. ^[12] The stadium has dining and conferencing facilities within the West and Famous Five Stands. ^[13] The Behind the Goals bar in the Famous Five Stand is one of the largest match-day bars in the United Kingdom. ^[14] An electronic scoreboard was installed between the two tiers of the South Stand during the 2005–06 season.

Future

The East Stand was a large terrace which has been greatly reduced, roofed and made all seated. Views of the pitch from this stand are somewhat restricted by the supporting pillars. The club has planning permission to replace this stand with a modern facility similar to the other three stands.

Hibs chairman and then chief executive Rod Petrie said in October 2006 that the development of a training ground was the first priority for the club. That facility was opened by Sir Tom Farmer on 19 December 2007. ^[15]

Petrie announced during the annual general meeting in October 2007 that the club would hold a consultation process ^[16] on the redevelopment of the east side of the ground, which began during April 2008. ^[17] Hibs have announced plans which would mean increasing the capacity of the stadium to just over 20,000 and widening the pitch by three metres, making the stadium fully compliant with UEFA regulations.

After posting their accounts for the year ended 31 July 2008, however, Petrie stated that the development was on hold until sufficient cash resources could be obtained to finance the project. ^[18]

Uses other than Hibs matches

Neutral venue for cup ties

Easter Road has sometimes played host to Scottish League Cup semi-final matches. Recent examples of this include Dunfermline 1–0 Livingston in 2006, Hearts 2–3 Motherwell in 2005 and Livingston 1–0 Dundee in 2004.

International football

Scotland have played four full international matches at Easter Road, all since 1998. These have been friendly matches against less attractive opposition where a relatively small crowd is expected, and it has therefore been unnecessary to play the match at Hampden Park. The Scotland under-21 team also sometimes play matches at Easter Road. This happened most recently when Scotland beat Lithuania under-21s 3–0 in October 2007. ^[19]

The most recent full international played at the stadium was a friendly match played between South Korea and Ghana in advance of the 2006 World Cup. ^[20] This match came about because South Korea (coached by the former Rangers manager Dick Advocaat) had used Rangers' training ground as a pre-tournament training base, and wanted matches to complete this training process. This match meant that international stars such as Michael Essien, Stephen Appiah and Park Ji-Sung played at the ground. Ghana won the match 3–1. ^[21]

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April 22 1998

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October 15 2002

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May 30 2004

This match had an unusual occurrence: when Gary Caldwell was substituted, he was replaced by his brother, Steven Caldwell. ----

November 17 2004

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June 4 2006

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Rugby Union

Easter Road was briefly the home ground for the Edinburgh Rugby professional rugby union team in the late 1990s. ^[22] It was reported in the summer of 2007 that Edinburgh Rugby looked into the possibility of using Easter Road again due to a rift betweent the club and the Scottish Rugby Union, ^[23] the owner of Murrayfield Stadium. The dispute was resolved, ^[24] however, and Edinburgh Rugby played their matches in the 2007–08 season at Murrayfield.

Music

Sir Elton John performed Easter Road's first rock concert on June 25 2005 ^{[25] [26]}. This had a detrimental effect on the quality of the pitch throughout the following season, and it is doubtful whether further concerts will be held at the stadium.

References

1. Easter Road Stadium, www.stadiumguide.com
2. Hibernian Football Club (Hibs), Easter Road Stadium
3. History of Easter Road, Scottish Premier League official website.
4. Hibs bid farewell to slope, BBC Sport, April 29, 2000.
5. Hibernian Football Club (Hibs), Easter Road Stadium, www.easterroad.com
6. Magical Barça to cast spell before Hearts' record crowd, ''The Scotsman'', July 28 2007.
7. Hearts heading for a home record, BBC Sport, July 27 2007.
8. Mon 02 Jan 1950, ''London Hearts''.
9. Crowd picture, ''London Hearts''.
10. Hibs reveal Farmer stake, BBC Sport, July 30 2003.
11. Last home game before the cowshed was demolished, Picasa Web Albums
12. Time-lapsed film of the West Stand construction on YouTube.
13. Conferencing & Banqueting at Easter Road Stadium, Hibernian F.C. official site.
14. Carling ‘Behind the Goals’, Hibernian F.C. official site.
15. Photographs of the training ground, Hibernian F.C. official site.
16. Supporters views are vital, Hibernian F.C. official site.
17. East Stand Consultation, Hibernian F.C. official site.
18. Hibs accounts delay stand plans, BBC Sport, 14 September 2008.
19. Hibernian official site
20. [1], Hibernian F.C. official site.
21. Korea.net
22. 2Rugby.com
23. Edinburgh face SRU closure threat, BBC Sport, July 5 2007.
24. Edinburgh back in union control, BBC Sport, July 12 2007.
25. Elton John set for Hibs & Killie, BBC Sport, January 20 2005.
26. Edinphoto.org