Cathkin Park Stadium

Glasgow’s Cathkin Stadium was once the home of the mighty Third Lanark Athletic Club football team but today it stands as a specter of its former glory with naught but cracked cement stands to remind the players of today of the greatness that once graced the field.    

Scottish Cup winners twice and league cup winners over their 95 years of existence, Third Lanark was a strong team that was beloved by their fans. They challenged constantly for honors against the two bigger Glasgow teams, Rangers FC and Celtic FC.  Unfortunately the “Hi Hi’s,” as they were known by their supporters, were brought to their knees by financial mismanagement and alleged blatant profiteering. They finally closed in a flurry of embarrassment and bankruptcy in 1967 with a humiliating defeat of 5-1 to Dumbarton F.C. where the team had to play in borrowed kit.

However a ghost of the team remains in form of their stadium. Cathkin Park is now a public park, where people walk their dogs and children play soccer on what is the pitch of a stadium that once held 20,000 fans. Look around and you can still see the stands and terraces where the fans would cheer on their team. Now all you hear are birds chirping among the trees that now grow in the terraces that remain.

However the story of the stadium and Third Lanark isn’t over yet. On occasion an amateur team that has recently risen from the ashes using the Third Lanark name still plays on the pitch, even sporting the bright red stripes that Third Lanark made famous.  With just a handful of people watching on the sidelines and some friends and family cheering the team on these days, it’s a long way away from the songs and roars that would’ve come from the terraces as the Hi Hi’s scored another goal, but it’s a start.