Broadwood Stadium

Broadwood Stadium

Location	Cumbernauld, Scotland
Coordinates	55°56′41.19″N 4°02′13.51″W / 55.9447750°N 4.0370861°W / 55.9447750; -4.0370861
Owner	Broadwood Stadium Company (owned by North Lanarkshire Council)[1]
Capacity	8,086[2]
Field size	112 x 76 yards (pitch)
Surface	3G artificial pitch[3]
Construction
Opened	1994
Construction cost	£8 million
Architect	Walker Group
Tenants
Clyde F.C. (1994 - Present) Airdrieonians (1994 -1998) Cumbernauld Colts (2012 - Present) Scottish Rugby Academy, West (2015 - Present)

Broadwood Stadium, also referred to as simply Broadwood, is a multi-use community stadium and sports complex situated in Cumbernauld, North Lanarkshire, Scotland. The stadium was opened in 1994 and since then has been the home venue of Clyde F.C., Cumbernauld Colts F.C. and the home of BT Sport Scottish Rugby Academy, Glasgow and the West since 2015.

It has staged the final of Scottish footballs' Scottish Challenge Cup on four occasions and Scottish rugbys' RBS Finals Day.^[4] The stadium has also held international Rugby League

Football

Clyde previously played in Glasgow at Barrowfield Park, from their creation in 1877 until 1898, and then Shawfield Stadium from 1898 until they were evicted in 1986. Clyde shared Firhill with fierce rivals Partick Thistle from 1986 until 1991, and then Douglas Park with Hamilton Academical until moving to the purpose built Broadwood in 1994.^[1] The move to Broadwood, 10 miles outside Glasgow,^[1] meant that the club would lose some fans in the move, but hoped to gain some new supporters in the new town of Cumbernauld, which had never hosted senior football before.

The stadium opened to the public in February 1994 to a full house at that time, of 6000 fans. Clyde lost the game 2–0 against Hamilton Academical. At the time of opening, only two stands, the Main Stand and the West Stand, had been completed, giving the stadium a capacity of 6,000. The third, South Stand was completed in 1997 to bring the overall capacity to just over 8,000. Plans to complete the stadium, and bring the overall capacity to 10,000 were shelved after Clyde failed to win promotion to the Scottish Premier League in 2004. The missing fourth stand has now been replaced by a community sports centre, and opened in 2013.

It also previously hosted another Scottish League club, Airdrieonians, between 1994 and 1998. Broadwood also formerly hosted Rangers reserve team matches on a regular basis. Broadwood has hosted many Scotland U-21 matches. Broadwood was the scene of a giant Scottish Cup shock in 2006, when Clyde beat holders Celtic 2–1. Broadwood has also hosted four Scottish Challenge Cup finals.

From 2015, Cumbernauld Colts will play senior games at the stadium having been accepted into the Scottish Lowland Football League.

Rugby

Broadwood has been used for one off games by Cumbernauld RFC.^[5]

It was chosen to host the 2014 RBS Finals Day.^[4] Heriots beat Hawks in the RBS Cup Final 31-10.

It is a home to BT Sport Scottish Rugby Academy, Glasgow and the West. Work is now underway to create a new purpose built facility, on-site, with state-of-the-art fitness and medical equipment, all part of Scottish Rugby's major policy initiative to develop a regional Academy system that provides the best possible support to players, both male and female, who have been identified as having genuine potential for the future.^[6]

The stadium was also home to the inaugural Rugby League Commonwealth Championships. This was a 9s competition entered by 8 teams from across the globe and was won by the Papua New Guinea national rugby league team.^[7]

Structure and facilities

Broadwood has three all seated stands with a capacity of 7,936.^[2] It is equipped with a full size astroturf pitch. It also has four 5-a-side pitches for public use, changing rooms, and a gymnasium, the latter being located to the north side of the pitch.

For the 2012–13 season, Clyde will play their football on a new 3rd generation synthetic pitch.^[3][8] Broadwood will hence become a multi-purpose stadium.

It has a purpose built rugby facility, on-site, with state-of-the-art fitness and medical equipment.

Future

Along with the introduction of a 3G surface, Broadwood is now shared between Cumbernauld Colts and Clyde.^[3][9] Cumbernauld Colts are now the primary licence holders of the Stadium and the site is used 7 days a week. The Colts community development program means that all age ranges use the stadium on a daily basis. With Colts entering the Scottish Lowland League, Broadwood Stadium will host a second senior club from 2015–16.^[9]

Clyde announced in December 2010 their intention to leave Broadwood for a site elsewhere.^[10] In October 2011, they revealed that East Kilbride was one of the possible locations that they were exploring. They continue to play home games at Braodwood as secondary licence holders.^[11] Clyde do however have priority over first team matches. In June 2015, The Herald reported that Clyde's preferred option was to return to Glasgow, sharing with Shettleston Juniors.^[12]

References

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