Stornoway Athletic 2-4 Back
Lewis & Harris League
15.8.11
Admission: £2
Programme: None
Attendance: 100
Capacity: 1,400
Seated: 100
Covered: 100
Town: Stornoway, Highlands & Islands, Scotland
Floodlights: No
Shop: No
Step: N/A
What an opportunity this was. I found myself in Stornoway on the Isle of Lewis on Monday 15th August. I had been on a trip roun North Lewis and arrived back in Stornoway at 18:20. I had discovered that morning at Stornoway Youth Hostel that the Lewis & Harris League had a couple of rounds of fixtures left and that matches were usually played on Monday evenings. On looking at the list I found that Stornoway Athletic were hosting Back in a important fixture.
So after visiting Port Nis in the north we drove back to Stornoway where I was dropped off outside Goathill Park, home to Athletic and United as they are known on the island. It had turned out there had been an error on the league website. The fixture had had its fixture time changed to 18:00 rather than 18:30, meaning I had missed the first 20 minutes. However I soon found out that the score was 1-0 to Athletic. Athletic soon added a second and went off at half time at 2-0. The match seemed to be going on forever. This was because of the midgees that I hadn't anticipated. It felt like my face was constantly being pricked with thin needles and I'm amazed my face didn't erode away from the vigorous rubbing I gave it. The second half saw a brilliant comeback from Back. They scored a penalty and then continued on to score 3 more goals and win the fixture. Back were looking forward to a Highland Amateur Cup final appearance against Avoch (Avoch won 5-1).
Stornoway is an interesting town. It serves as the HQ for the Western Isles. It is also has the only TESCO for over one hundred miles, Oban is the next one. The War Memorial on the northern edge of the town is worth a visit and walking around the docks is also a very interesting detour. A visit to the churches in the town is also popular with one seeing over 1,000 attendees for services (in Gaelic). Or you can just wander the narrow back streets of the quiet coastal town.
Goathill Park is a very impressive venue for Amateur football. You enter in the west corner through the iron gates with two footballer silhouettes and GOATHILL PARK shown in a gold colour. The end to your left is flat syanding as is the far side. the far end is out of bounds to spectators. The near side has all the facilities. There are 4 steps of open terracing as you enter. These run down to the half way line where there is a seated stand containing concrete steps with wooden slats on top. This would hold about 100 and has the changing rooms behind. Admission is taken when someon brings a bag around at half time. Many disappeared for the interval and then returned when the coast was clear. What makes watching a game on the island so interesting is the fact that everyone speaks Gaelic. The supporters, players and managers all speak in the language and I found it very unusual and almost felt like I was watching a game abroad. But this is what makes you realise the culture of the game around the world. Wherever it is being played and whatever language people may speak, we all play one game that can ultimately join everyone together. Ness, Point and Carloway are other grounds to enjoy a game in an interesting ground, Ness in my opinion is the best.
Stornoway Athletic matchday pictures:
