24th March
2012
Irn Bru League
Division 2
Brechin City 1-3 East Fife
Glebe Park, Brechin
Attendance: 525
Founded in 1906, Brechin
City are the amalgamation
of junior sides Brechin Harp and Brechin Hearts. The club started to play their
football at their Glebe
Park home in 1919 – a
ground with unbelievable character.
Take their pitch for instance. UEFA states that a pitch must be seventy
yards wide. Brechin
City’s pitch is only
sixty-seven yards wide. For most clubs, the solution would be easy. A simple extension
at each side of the pitch would fix the problem and everyone could get on with
their lives. There’s only one problem though. One glorious, fragrant, twiggy,
pitch-length problem.
The Hedge!
The Stadium
(quirkiness and comfort) - 10/10
Before arriving
at Glebe Park I had heard many great things about
Brechin’s hedge. Stories of its wonder and its delights have become folklore
across Scotland
and beyond. To see it in all its glory though was life-changing.
As well as
basically having a hedge in place of a stand, Glebe Park also offers many other
quirky delights such as the church spire overlooking the Main Stand – which
itself is tiny, runs less than half the length of the pitch and straddles the
halfway line. One of the ends backs onto a cemetery and the other is a smart
looking new stand (built in the 1990s) called the Trinity Road End set well
back from the pitch, sitting upon a raised banking.
Basically, Glebe Park
is absolutely mental. To get to the women’s toilets for instance (I was with
the wife, so no need for smart-ass comments) apparently you need to head
through parts of the Main Stand, past the director’s boxes and use the toilets
that sit next to the player’s dressing rooms.
One really nice
touch is at the Cemetery End, where they have hand prints in the concrete with
plaques above each of the handprint reading “Brechin City Supporter since XXXX
(date)” and then the person’s name.
Overall, I think
Glebe Park is probably the best ground at
which I’ve watched footie so far in this project. It is absolutely crazy that
in the one stadium you’ve got four completely different means of watching the
game. From sitting in the modern Trinity Road End to standing in the covered,
cemetery end and from the bizarre but seated Main Stand to the world-famous
hedge where again, you have to stand, you have a veritable smorgasbord of
options! Full marks!
Catering
(quality and price) 10/10
Another thing
I’d heard a shed load about before going to Glebe Park
was the soup. “The best soup you’ll have ever tasted”, someone said. Well, I
wouldn’t go that far….but I would go as far as to say it was absolutely
fantastic! For only £1, you can get a home-made Scotch Broth style soup that is
“thick like your granny would make it” – Scottish followers will know what I
mean. Non-Scottish followers…..come up and try it!
I also had the
pie and tea combo, as standard when on OTWRB duty and again, it was smashing
stuff. The pie was truly superb. Really tasty, good consistency and good value
at £1.40. When combined with the tea at £1.00, you’re looking at a fine
catering experience at Brechin
City. Can’t believe I’m
saying it again but folks……it’s top marks!
Unfortunately,
this is where the top marks end. Brechin won’t score badly in any of the
ensuing sections, but the catering and stadium are definitely the best things
about Glebe Park.
Fans (scored
on both atmosphere & conduct – sporting behaviour, welcoming nature etc) -
19/25
That isn’t to
say the fans were a shambles, of course, there just wasn’t very many of
them…bizarrely. I wasn’t expecting a 3,000 sell out, but I didn’t expect the
home fans to be almost (if not actually) outnumbered by the travelling support
from Fife. I did find that rather
disappointing, actually.
Nonetheless,
those who were there were lovely to be around. A fine mixture of old boys who
love the club and a leisurely day out at Glebe Park,
to the younger fellas who had a great sense of humour, fun banter and healthy
support for their club. They also demonstrated a healthy appreciation for the
opposition who were superior on the day, offering a sporting round of applause
when the Fifers smashed home a couple of fine strikes.
By no means a
poor score, but I couldn’t legitimately score the fans higher than I have based
on this match and turnout.
Entertainment
on the pitch (quite self explanatory) - 16/25
In terms of
match entertainment, I found the Glebe
Park side reasonably
entertaining. I suspect that the players that are in the squad are actually a
hell of a lot better than they are maybe showing, though. At times, the team
seem to be a bit defensive, play a bit deep and opt for a longer and more
direct ball. This is a little disappointing because I think there are some
excellent ball players in the Brechin squad. I’m not sure if the fans would
agree with this summary or not, if they are frustrated by some of the more
defensively-minded tactics that Brechin appear to be using, but when they were 2-1
down and came out fighting and used the wide men to good effect, they really
caused East Fife a lot of problems.
Some players
worth a mention:
Paul McManus: I
couldn’t do a Brechin
City focused blog without
mentioning “Shagger” himself. I think he’s a very useful footballer indeed. His
goal scoring record this season certainly backs this up. He works his socks off
for the team, with good movement, a decent spring, and a constant goal-threat,
he seems pretty central to everything City do. He did miss a few chances which,
I suspect, he’d have put away on another day but you couldn’t fault his work
rate or desire. He, apparently, also shags ten birds a night. Or so the song
goes!
Rory McKenzie:
the young fella on loan from Kilmarnock has
got a future ahead of him in my opinion. He’s only 18 years of age but has a
very good touch, quick feet and an excellent cross on him. He probably needs to
work on a few things, composure in front of goal for instance. Overall though,
really good player and a clever signing on loan from Jim Weir.
Bryan Hodge: For
a boy of 24, he’s already been on the books of seven clubs. That said, he may have found a home at Brechin
City. He’s a very good
player. Naturally left footed, but decent with his swinger (unusual for a left
footer some might say) he offers a good option on the wing for the home team.
He works well with the central midfielders, covers well for his full back and
looks like he might have a fair strike on him as well.
Value for
money (what you get for your buck) - 20/30
For £12, Brechin
is well worth a visit. Good food and a stadium that is simply brilliant. I
could imagine on a sunny day, there’d be very few places in the world better to
watch a game of football. And that hedge? Wooft! The fans were good to be
around. Very pleasant and welcoming I would say. My only gripe is that I felt
the team played well within their actual capabilities and it has cost them in
terms of entertainment factor and thus, brings down their overall value for money
scoring.
Although Brechin
is somewhat out of the way, not being served by a train station, those who haven’t been
really need to go. Whether you need to take your own car, hire a car, get a
train to Montrose and bus it across to the town….Brechin City and Glebe Park
are a must visit.
Overall score for Brechin City
– 75/100
Not sure what you mean about ladies toilets - there are some in the end stand - perfectly easy to get to - although the doors don't close properly which is hardly a plus point. Also try sitting in the 'modern' end stand - if you can find a seat that's not broken or covered in bird droppings. Good luck with that!
ReplyDeleteI give Glebe Park 90/100
ReplyDeleteBrechin fan, per chance?
Delete