Somerset Park (Ayr United v St Mirren)

Last Saturday I paid my second visit to Somerset Park in less than three weeks. On 20th January I had witnessed the Honest Men knocking Hibs out of the Scottish Cup. In the fifth round St Mirren came calling and this time I was in the Railway End as a St Mirren supporter. I took the train to Ayr (a 40-minute journey from Paisley) and had a pint in the local Wetherspoon's, the West Kirk, before heading for the ground, a short walk of about fifteen minutes from the town centre.

The game was made all-ticket on advice of Strathclyde Police and Saints had been allocated 2,500 tickets of which they sold about 2,300. A crowd of just under 6,000 showed up today and created a great cup atmosphere at Somerset Park. Craig Dargo scored the first goal for Saints after barely six minutes and added a second to his tally in the dying minutes of the first half. The chance of another upset by the part-timers started to look very slim until United's Mark Roberts scored from the spot thirteen minutes after the interval. St Mirren managed to hang on to their slim lead however and Dargo had a couple of chances to complete a hat-trick but manager Danny Lennon took him off fifteen minutes before time. This resulted in the Paisley contingent chanting: 'You don't know what you're doing!' but Lennon afterwards explained Dargo had started to look tired. It was a bizarre decision in my opinion but Saints are through to the quarter-final where the will meet Aberdeen at home.

For more pictures of Somerset Park, see this post and this one.

A pre-match pint in the West Kirk.


The Main Stand.


Queues at the away end.


A packed Somerset Road End.


2,500 Saints fans in the Railway End.


The Main Stand was sold out. Saints fans in the foreground.


The North Terrace.


A packed Railway End.


Mark Roberts' spot-kick ensured a tense finale.

Saturday 5th February 2011
Scottish Cup 5th round
Ayr United 1 St Mirren 2
Ayr United: Roberts (pen) 58.
St Mirren: Dargo 7, 45+1.
Att: 5,997

Somerset Park (Ayr United v St Mirren)

Last Saturday I paid my second visit to Somerset Park in less than three weeks. On 20th January I had witnessed the Honest Men knocking Hibs out of the Scottish Cup. In the fifth round St Mirren came calling and this time I was in the Railway End as a St Mirren supporter. I took the train to Ayr (a 40-minute journey from Paisley) and had a pint in the local Wetherspoon's, the West Kirk, before heading for the ground, a short walk of about fifteen minutes from the town centre.

The game was made all-ticket on advice of Strathclyde Police and Saints had been allocated 2,500 tickets of which they sold about 2,300. A crowd of just under 6,000 showed up today and created a great cup atmosphere at Somerset Park. Craig Dargo scored the first goal for Saints after barely six minutes and added a second to his tally in the dying minutes of the first half. The chance of another upset by the part-timers started to look very slim until United's Mark Roberts scored from the spot thirteen minutes after the interval. St Mirren managed to hang on to their slim lead however and Dargo had a couple of chances to complete a hat-trick but manager Danny Lennon took him off fifteen minutes before time. This resulted in the Paisley contingent chanting: 'You don't know what you're doing!' but Lennon afterwards explained Dargo had started to look tired. It was a bizarre decision in my opinion but Saints are through to the quarter-final where the will meet Aberdeen at home.

For more pictures of Somerset Park, see this post and this one.

A pre-match pint in the West Kirk.


The Main Stand.


Queues at the away end.


A packed Somerset Road End.


2,500 Saints fans in the Railway End.


The Main Stand was sold out. Saints fans in the foreground.


The North Terrace.


A packed Railway End.


Mark Roberts' spot-kick ensured a tense finale.

Saturday 5th February 2011
Scottish Cup 5th round
Ayr United 1 St Mirren 2
Ayr United: Roberts (pen) 58.
St Mirren: Dargo 7, 45+1.
Att: 5,997

Somerset Park (Ayr United v Hibernian)

Yesterday I made the short train journey, about 40 minutes, from Paisley to Ayr for the Scottish Cup fourth round replay between Ayr United and Hibernian. The first encounter at Easter Road had ended in a goalless draw. I had not seen that game but apparently both sides rued missed chances that could have secured their passage to the fifth round. Many in Scotland, including myself, believed Ayr could win this replay. The Edinburgh side are traditionally one of the stronger outfits in the SPL but things have not gone to plan since manager Colin Calderwood took over from John Hughes in October of last year. Prior to last night's match the Hibees had only won two of their thirteen games under Calderwood. The men from Leith have an atrocious record in de Scottish Cup anyway considering their pedigree. The last time they lifted the oldest trophy in football was 110 years ago. And then there was the CIS Insurance Cup semi-final at Hampden in 2002: Ayr United, playing in the First Division at the time, eliminated Hibs 1-0 after extra time and reached their first ever major final. The Honest Men lost 4-0 to Rangers but they probably were not too upset about it.

Nowadays United have to strut their stuff in the Second Division. They said goodbye to full-time football after last year's relegation but they are once more in contention for promotion to the second tier of Scottish football. Somerset Park is a great stadium for groundhoppers but unfortunately unsuitable for a club with the ambition to play SPL football in the near future. There is one main stand and three fairly large terraces. Although the official capacity is just over 10,000 there was a great atmosphere inside the stadium with a crowd of under 4,000. I witnessed most of the first-half action from the North Terrace, including Mark Roberts's goal after 18 minutes. From that moment the crowd really started believing an upset was possible. Hibs had a few good chances but it was one of those nights for them.

In the second half the tension was relieved temporarily when a streaker, dressed only in a Borat-style mankini, entered the pitch and ran along the Somerset Road end of the pitch. Soon after however the nail-biting resumed. Then finally, Somerset Park erupted at the final whistle, followed by a good-natured pitch invasion. In the fifth round the mighty St Mirren will visit Somerset Park so I will be back on 5th February!

For pictures of Somerset Park in daylight see this post and this one.

Long queues at the turnstiles.

The Somerset Road End.

The Main Stand.

Hibs supporters in the Railway End.


The North Terrace.


A streaker on the pitch in the second half.

Pitch invasion after the final whistle.

Tuesday 18th January 2011
Scottish Cup 4th round replay (first game: 0-0)
Ayr United 1 Hibernian 0
Goal: Roberts 19.
Att: 3,826

Somerset Park (Ayr United v Hibernian)

Yesterday I made the short train journey, about 40 minutes, from Paisley to Ayr for the Scottish Cup fourth round replay between Ayr United and Hibernian. The first encounter at Easter Road had ended in a goalless draw. I had not seen that game but apparently both sides rued missed chances that could have secured their passage to the fifth round. Many in Scotland, including myself, believed Ayr could win this replay. The Edinburgh side are traditionally one of the stronger outfits in the SPL but things have not gone to plan since manager Colin Calderwood took over from John Hughes in October of last year. Prior to last night's match the Hibees had only won two of their thirteen games under Calderwood. The men from Leith have an atrocious record in de Scottish Cup anyway considering their pedigree. The last time they lifted the oldest trophy in football was 110 years ago. And then there was the CIS Insurance Cup semi-final at Hampden in 2002: Ayr United, playing in the First Division at the time, eliminated Hibs 1-0 after extra time and reached their first ever major final. The Honest Men lost 4-0 to Rangers but they probably were not too upset about it.

Nowadays United have to strut their stuff in the Second Division. They said goodbye to full-time football after last year's relegation but they are once more in contention for promotion to the second tier of Scottish football. Somerset Park is a great stadium for groundhoppers but unfortunately unsuitable for a club with the ambition to play SPL football in the near future. There is one main stand and three fairly large terraces. Although the official capacity is just over 10,000 there was a great atmosphere inside the stadium with a crowd of under 4,000. I witnessed most of the first-half action from the North Terrace, including Mark Roberts's goal after 18 minutes. From that moment the crowd really started believing an upset was possible. Hibs had a few good chances but it was one of those nights for them.

In the second half the tension was relieved temporarily when a streaker, dressed only in a Borat-style mankini, entered the pitch and ran along the Somerset Road end of the pitch. Soon after however the nail-biting resumed. Then finally, Somerset Park erupted at the final whistle, followed by a good-natured pitch invasion. In the fifth round the mighty St Mirren will visit Somerset Park so I will be back on 5th February!

For pictures of Somerset Park in daylight see this post and this one.

Long queues at the turnstiles.

The Somerset Road End.

The Main Stand.

Hibs supporters in the Railway End.


The North Terrace.


A streaker on the pitch in the second half.

Pitch invasion after the final whistle.

Tuesday 18th January 2011
Scottish Cup 4th round replay (first game: 0-0)
Ayr United 1 Hibernian 0
Goal: Roberts 19.
Att: 3,826

Somerset Park (Ayr United v Airdrie United)

For more pictures of Somerset Park see this post and this one.

Long queues at the turnstiles. We did not make it in before kick-off.


The North Terrace.


The Somerset Road End.


The Main Stand


The Railway End, which housed the Airdie Utd fans.

John Baird scores the second goal for Airdrie Utd: 0-2

Another view of the Main Stand and Railway End.


Chris Aitken misses the opportunity to put Ayr Utd 3-2 ahead with this poor penalty attempt.

Wednesday 20th May 2009
Scottish Football League First Division play-off final (first leg)
Ayr United 2 Airdrie United 2
Ayr Utd: Roberts 48, 67.
Airdrie Utd: Di Giacomo 30, Baird 43.
Att: 3,378

Somerset Park (Ayr United v Airdrie United)

For more pictures of Somerset Park see this post and this one.

Long queues at the turnstiles. We did not make it in before kick-off.


The North Terrace.


The Somerset Road End.


The Main Stand


The Railway End, which housed the Airdie Utd fans.

John Baird scores the second goal for Airdrie Utd: 0-2

Another view of the Main Stand and Railway End.


Chris Aitken misses the opportunity to put Ayr Utd 3-2 ahead with this poor penalty attempt.

Wednesday 20th May 2009
Scottish Football League First Division play-off final (first leg)
Ayr United 2 Airdrie United 2
Ayr Utd: Roberts 48, 67.
Airdrie Utd: Di Giacomo 30, Baird 43.
Att: 3,378