Firhill Stadium (Glasgow Warriors v Edinburgh Rugby)

Yesterday, Boxing Day, I had planned to see St Mirren take on Aberdeen at St Mirren Park but unfortunately the game was cancelled because Strathclyde Police had concerns about the safety of the area surrounding the ground. There was nothing wrong with the pitch, mind, and the game was not called off until 12:30. I was glad I did not have to travel all the way from Aberdeen but after having phoned the club at noon to be told that the game was definitely on I was still pretty annoyed.

I decided to go to Firhill today instead to see the Magners League rugby game between Glasgow Warriors and Edinburgh Rugby, which was not only an important league game but also doubled as the first leg of the 1872 Cup, the trophy that is contested annually by the inter-city rivals. I consider myself a supporter of Glasgow, although I had not attended a game for four years, the last one a Heineken Cup pool game against Bath, also at Firhill. Let us just say I am the type of 'supporter' who always looks for their results in the paper! For some reason the only two professional Scottish teams do not attract the same support as their Magners League counterparts in Wales and Ireland. Leinster has an average attendance of 15,000, a figure that dwarfs the 2-3,000 that show up at Firhill every other Friday night.

With both Edinburgh and Glasgow sitting at the top of the Magners League table and with the help of an extensive marketing campaign in the past few weeks, the general expectation was that Glasgow's home attendance record (6,665 in last season's 1872 Cup derby) would be broken today. 8,830 Glasgow and Edinburgh fans showed up, thus setting a new record. Glasgow's Dan Parks set another record by becoming the first player to score 1,000 points in the Magners League. Parks, who is expected to complete a move to Cardiff Blues soon, only needed five points to reach the milestone. The Australian-born fly-half did not leave anything to chance however and scored an impressive 20 points this afternoon.

Glasgow were the dominant team today but they conceded more penalties than necessary. In the second half the Warriors were able to pull away and man-of-the-match Richie Vernon scored the only try of the match. The return-leg of the 1872 Cup will be played at Murrayfield on 2nd January. Interestingly, Edinburgh have never been able to beat Glasgow at Firhill but Glasgow rarely win in Edinburgh so the contest is still wide open, although I think the league is more important for both teams at the moment.

You will find pictures of a Partick Thistle football match at Firhill here.

Approaching Firhill Stadium.


The North Stand before the game. You could only purchase a ticket for this stand today.


The Main Stand.


The South Terrace, or what is left of it.


Chris Paterson scoring his first of four penalties for Edinburgh.


The Jackie Husband Stand.


Celebrations after Glasgow scored the only try of the match. Note the hideous Edinburgh shirts...


The Main Stand after the game.


The Jackie Husband Stand after the game.


The North Stand after the game.

Sunday 27th December 2009

Magners League

Glasgow (15) 25

Try: Vernon; cons: Parks; pens: Parks 5; drop-goal: Parks

Edinburgh (12) 12

Pens: Paterson 4

Att: 8,830

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