McDiarmid Park

Monday, April 22, 2019

St Johnstone 2-0 Dundee

Aerial shot of McDiarmid Park
(Photo courtesy of St Johnstone FC)

Ratings

Overall Ground Quality : 7/10

Ease of getting there : 9/10

Atmosphere : 6/10

Programme : 9/10

View of Action : 7/10

Quality of the game : 5/10

The "football" feeling : 8/10

Chances of coming here for a random game : 1/10

Legroom : 8/10

Surrounding area : 8/10

Overall : 68/100

Programme - £2.00
Small but contains the relevant information,
if only more programmes were like this!

View of Heart's Tynecastle from Edinburgh Castle

View of Murrayfield from Edinburgh Castle

View of Arthur's Seat from Edinburgh Castle

Edinburgh Castle at night

The three bridges across the River Forth:
Forth Road Bridge, Forth Rail Bridge
and the Queensferry Crossing Bridge

Ormond Stand

East Stand

St Johnstone FC

East Stand

Ormond Stand

North Stand (Away)

Main Stand

North Stand (Away)

Main Stand

Ormond Stand

The floodlight pylons at McDiarmid Park are the original
ones from their former home, Muirton Park

A flag paying tribute to Dundee legend Big Rabbie D (Rab Douglas)
who failed to make an impression in England during his time at Leicester City

Main Stand

Ormond Stand

North Stand (Away)

Ormond Stand

Main Stand

North Stand (Away)

St Johnstone 2-0 Dundee

For the second weekend in a row following a visit to Hampden Park, for myself (Ross) it was another opportunity to see more Scottish football and to tick off another ground all by chance.... quite literally!
A few weeks previous, organised with a few mates of mine, we chose our football away weekend based on the team that scored first. With this rule in place for all teams in the UK, the team who scored in the first minute was Dundee's Ethan Robson against St Mirren (and the first goal they scored in three matches!). Due to the fixture split in Scotland, we were kept in suspense for a while before it was revealed we would be heading to Perth to see St Johnstone verses Dundee in the Tayside Derby.
With everything organised, we set the alarms for 2am on Good Friday and were on the road by 3am picking our friends up along the way and having a car full by the time we reached the M6 at Stoke on Trent. As we made our way to Gretna Green services for breakfast, we saw the night gradually turn to day and were across the border by 7.30am.
After our breakfast, we continued making our way across to Edinburgh with the scenic rolling hills keeping us entertained before suddenly finding we had arrived in the Scottish capital. We went straight to the Leonardo Royal Hotel where we booked to stay, leaving the car in their car park.
We walked to Edinburgh Castle exploring all it had to offer including seeing the Scottish Crown Jewels and taking in the breathtaking views across this wonderful city.
Our visit to Edinburgh also consisted with a visit to the National Museum of Scotland, dinner at the Hard Rock Cafe before an evening of drinking.
The next morning following breakfast at a nearby Wetherspoons pub, we hit the road crossing the River Forth using the brand new Queensferry Crossing Bridge with great views of the Forth Road Bridge and the Forth Rail Bridge.
Between Edinburgh and Perth, it's no more than an hour and a half of driving. We arrived at around 1pm and drove to the Glover Arms pubs near McDiarmid Park. We even managed to leave the car in their car park during the match with the intention of having dinner there after the match.
After a pint of Tennants in the beer garden, we made our 5 minute walk to the ground. A few of the lads wanted to get a souvenir from the club shop which was no bigger than a box room of a house and proved to become rather congested even with just 5 of us and 2 members of staff!
We walked around the ground taking a few photos and took it all in. With it being a local derby, we noticed there was a large police presence. Just after 2pm, we made our way into the ground paying cash on the turnstiles. As we went through the turnstiles, the concourse was very basic with a small tea counter, a fold up table where programmes were being sold and a small TV that must've been at least 10 years old with Soccer Saturday (not that you could see the vidiprinter we later found at half time!).
With the ground operating a unreserved seating policy with a small number of seats labelled for season ticket holders, we pick our seats midway up the stand.
McDiarmid Park was opened in 1989 replacing St Johnstone's former home, Muirton Park. The stadium has an all-seated capacity of 10,696.
In December 1986, the club received the news that Asda wanted to purchase Muirton Park and the adjoining ice rink to build a supermarket on the site. In return, the club would be relocated, at no cost to them, to a brand-new stadium at the western edge of the city. A local farmer, Bruce McDiarmid, donated 16 acres of land on which the stadium now stands. The going rate for the land at that time would have been approximately £400,000 but Bruce McDiarmid saw a donation of his "berry and barley fields" as a gift to the people of Perth. At the insistence of St Johnstone he accepted a 20 per cent shareholding and the title of honorary president of the football club.
Work started on the new stadium in December 1988 and was finished in time for the start of the 1989–90 season. Although McDiarmid Park was opened after the Hillsborough disaster, all of the planning and most of the construction work had been done beforehand. Lord Justice Taylor visited the ground as part of his inquiry into the disaster.
The floodlights at McDiarmid Park are the same ones used at Muirton Park.

And onto the match: A brilliant second-half free-kick from Scott Tanser and well timed diving header by Callum Hendry gave the dominant hosts victory.
Tommy Wright's St Johnstone side were set up with a very flexible 4-2-3-1 formation with Scott Tanser at left back, Matty Kennedy on the left side of the attacking midfield, Chris Kane was the loan striker with Callum Hendry just behind him.
Jim McIntyre's struggling Dundee side were set up with a very rigid 4-4-2 with a strike partnership consisting of Kenny Miller and Craig Curran.
The first half saw many half chances by both side with St Johnstone looking the better side jumping onto the lose balls and looked the more threatening on the attack.
It wasn't until the second half when the match really opened up. Dundee conceded a foul on the edge of their penalty area. The resulting freekick was taken by Scott Tanser which looped over the four man wall into the top right corner beating goalkeeper Seny Dieng to opening the scoring on 54 minutes.
On 60 minutes, Jim McIntyre tried to shake things up by bringing on striker Andrew Nelson replacing veteran Kenny Miller who was angered by the decision.
The Saints continued to increase the pressure on the weak Dundee defence however it wasn't long before they grabbed their second goal. Richard Foster whipped over a good cross from the right. Ryan McGowan missed the ball however an unmarked Callum Hendry was behind him who headed home on 68 minutes. 2-0 to the Saints, game over, cue the mass exit of Dundee supporters with 20 minutes to go.
Winger Matty Kennedy did everything apart from get on the scoresheet in an outstanding individual performance which saw him win Man of the Match and receive a standing ovation when he was replaced by Danny Swanson on 88 minutes.
Dundee barely threatened and were fortunate to avoid a heavier defeat.
Dundee's losing streak is the worst run of any Scottish top-flight club this season and consequently after the match were 6 points adrift at the bottom of the SPL league table.

Our visit to McDiarmid Park very much felt like a good old fashioned football visit. Cash on the turnstiles, small but informative programmes, tea counters served by a couple of old ladies and basic facilities that just did the job - nothing fancy required. There was also a real close knit feel amongst the fans with many young fans getting behind their local team rather than falling for the Old Firm trap.

After the match, we made our way back to the Glover Arms pub where I tucked into Steak and Ale pie washed down with a pint. That night we stayed at the Station Hotel in Perth where we enjoyed a few drinks with a few Dundee fans who were waiting for their train. When our Dundee friends went, we continued having a few drinks enjoying the end of our weekend before making the long journey home the next day.