There can be no such arguments over the location of Falkirk Juniors: they most definitely play in Grangemouth (at Grangemouth Stadium, no less.) The club were formed in 2011 to give players from the Falkirk area a chance to play at a good level. New junior clubs starting up is a relatively rare occurence - however, it's even rarer that they walk into a ready-made stadium!
Grangemouth Stadium was built primarily for athletics in the 1960s (part-funded by the BP) and once hosted a Status Quo concert. There was talk of East Stirlingshire playing there when they moved out of Firs Park a few years ago, but that never materialised. On one side there is a large all-seater stand that can hold 1000. The rest of the ground is surrounded by a mixture of terracing and tarmac. At the back of the stand is a commentator's box which doubles as the pie hut on one side, and the committee hospitality area on the other. We were admonished by a stern lady for entering the committee's side of the box (there was a sign, apparently.) Although the stadium is undoubtedly an excellent facility, there are some problems:
1.) Due to the presence of the running track, the supporters are quite far away from the pitch. This means you don't get any camaraderie between the fans and players, which is of course one of the best thing about smaller crowds.
2.) Given that the club are based in Grangemouth, it's difficult to see the people from Falkirk turning out in great numbers to support them,
3.) Given also that the last junior team from the area (Grangemouth United) folded in the 1970s due to low crowds, it's difficult to see the people of Grangemouth getting behind a team not even bearing their town's name. However, they seem like a well-run club with a hard-working committee so good luck to them.
The main stand (and pie hut.)
Onto the match. We arrived slightly late to find we'd already missed a Tranent goal. Falkirk Juniors were wearing what appeared to be an old set of Chelsea strips (they even had Samsung as the sponsor). As we settled down to watch the match it became clear that Falkirk were the stronger side. After spurning what seemed like endless chances they eventually managed to find an equaliser. Early in the second half they went ahead, and I commented to my mate ' they'll run away with it now surely'. Despite Falkirk continuing to create (and spurn) many chances I was proved wrong when Tranent scrambled an equaliser from a corner, their second chance of the game and second goal. However, Falkirk scored again a few minutes later to scrape a well-deserved victory.
Attendance: circa 45
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