Merchiston Park

Merchiston Park

Merchiston Park Location in Bainsford, Falkirk
Location	nr. Main Street, Bainsford, Stirlingshire, Scotland
Coordinates	56°0′40″N 3°47′15″W / 56.01111°N 3.78750°W / 56.01111; -3.78750
Owner	East Stirlingshire F.C.
Opened	c.1882
Closed	1920
Tenants
East Stirlingshire F.C. (c. 1882–1920)

Merchiston Park (/ˈmɛərkɪstən/) was a football ground in Bainsford, near Falkirk, which was the home of East Stirlingshire F.C. between c.1882 and 1920. It was located near Main Street, just north of the Forth and Clyde Canal at Bainsford Bridge.

East Stirlingshire F.C. was formed in 1880 when a group of friends from a cricket team called Bainsford Blue Bonnets formed a football team under the name Britannia. At the end of the club's first year of existence it found a home at Randyford Park in the east of Falkirk. At the time, the ground's previous tenant was a cricket team called East Stirlingshire Cricket Club and in 1881, Britannia also adopted the East Stirlingshire name, which stands to this day.

By 1882, East Stirlingshire is recorded as having played home games at Merchiston Park in Bainsford. The ground was located just west of Main Street and north of the Forth and Clyde Canal at Bainsford Bridge. One of the first matches at the ground under the East Stirlingshire name was against neighbours Falkirk F.C. and ended in a 4–0 defeat for the home side.

The club was admitted to the second tier of the Scottish Football League in 1900 and played its first ever league game at Merchiston Park in August of the same year. The match was against Airdrieonians, in front of a crowd of 2,500 people, and ended in a 3–2 defeat.

In 1908, the whole ground was moved a few hundred metres south to make way for a new railway line, the Bainsford Branch, which bypassed Falkirk Grahamston railway station to the north. The line no longer exists and now forms the route of the A9 Falkirk Ring Road.