The stadium was opened in 2004 with the main stand completed. It became the home of Falkirk in the same year after the club ground shared Ochilview Park for the 2003–04 season whilst the stadium was being constructed. The north and south stands were built and opened in 2005 and 2009 respectively. East Stirlingshire have shared the ground since 2018, when they ended their own groundshare at Ochilview to return to Falkirk.
Work began on building the stadium in 2003[2] after Brockville Park, the club's town centre home since 1885, was sold and demolished.[3]
The project of building the stadium was a partnership between Falkirk Football Club and Falkirk Council who set up the Falkirk Community Stadium Ltd which provided the funds to construct and run the stadium.[4] Falkirk Council estimated £6.1 million would be required for the first stage of the Community Stadium build and would contribute £3.1 million initially. The sale of Brockville Park amounted to £9 million pounds for the club, of which £2.8 million went towards the build, whilst £200,000 came from sportscotland.
Falkirk's first ever game at the stadium was a friendly in July 2004 against Dundee resulting in a 2–1 defeat.[5] A month later the first league game was hosted in the stadium with visitors Hamilton Academical drawing 1–1.[6]
In October 2004 construction work commenced for the building of a second stand to the north of the pitch.[6] The stand has a capacity of 2,000. After completion, the £1.58m[7] facility would bring the stadium's capacity to over the Scottish Premier League's 6,000 seating criteria meaning Falkirk would be allowed automatic promotion[8] from the First Division. The stand received its safety certificate in late March 2005, shortly before the SPL's deadline for a stadium which met the seating criteria.[8] By May of the same year the north stand was fully completed.[9]
Construction of the south stand began in December 2008 by contractors Ogilvie.[10] A £2m pledge from Sandy Alexander, founder of Schuh and Falkirk supporter, helped fund the project.[10] The south stand has a capacity of around 2,000 and is similar in appearance to the north stand of the stadium.[11] It was officially opened in August 2009 in a friendly game against Royal Antwerp FC of Belgium.[12] This brought the capacity of the stadium to around 8,000 people without the inclusion of the temporary east stand.
The joint venture that was set up between Falkirk F.C. and Falkirk Council, ended in 2009, just a few months before the opening of the south stand. The football club took full control of the facilities such as the pitch, seats, under-soil heating and floodlights,[4] whilst the council retained most of the development rights for the site and manages and receives rent from businesses set up the stadium's main west stand.[4]
Falkirk Stadium is situated opposite the fire station
In April 2018 it was announced that East Stirlingshire would begin playing their home matches at the Falkirk Stadium from the start of the 2018–19 season.[14] The club had previously played in the centre of Falkirk at Firs Park until 2008, before spending a decade ground-sharing with Stenhousemuir at Ochilview Park. Queen's Park also moved in during the latter part of the 2020–21 season, after their lease on Hampden Park expired.[15][16]
Structure and facilities
The Falkirk Stadium is an all-seater stadium which currently consists of three completed stands in the form of the main west stand and smaller north and south stands. Upon the stadium's construction the west stand was the first to be built, and subsequently completed in 2004. The north and south stands were completed in 2005 and 2009 respectively. The west stand has a capacity of roughly 4,200[17][18] and hosts several facilities which have ranged from a nursery to a restaurant. The south stand features a bar called the Brockville Bar. A temporary east stand has been present on several occasions.
In June 2022, the South Stand was renamed to the Kevin McAllister Stand after the football player that played for the club.
Summer concerts
Since 2012, Falkirk Stadium has been hosting summer concerts, achieving up to 21,000[19] attendees per event.
^ The Killers were originally due to play at Falkirk Stadium on 28 May 2020 but this was postponed[30] to 8 June 2021 then again to 6 June 2022 because of COVID-19.
Special match day bus services provided by McGill's Scotland East allow direct transport to the stadium from around the Falkirk area.[35] The number 98 service from Brightons passes through Shieldhill, Hallglen and Laurieston before terminating at the stadium. Access from Larbert on match days is provided by the number 99 bus, which is destined for the stadium via Stenhousemuir, Carronshore and Bainsford.[35][36] As well as the special match day routes, regular services are also provided by McGill's Scotland East from Falkirk bus station to Grangemouth (routes 3 and 4) and Bo'ness (route 2) which stop outside the stadium.[35][37]