Rosebery Park

Rosebery Park

Rosebery Park Location within Glasgow council area
Location	Oatlands, Glasgow, Scotland
Coordinates	55.838°N 4.236°W / 55.838; -4.236
Owner	Glasgow City Council (after 1961)
Type	Stadium
Surface	Grass
Construction
Opened	1918
Closed	1990s
Demolished	2000s
Tenants
Shawfield F.C. 1918–1960 Pollok F.C. 1926–1928 Glasgow schools' football 1963–1990s

Rosebery Park was a football ground in the Oatlands area of Glasgow, Scotland. It was the home of Shawfield F.C. from 1918 to 1960, before being acquired by Glasgow Corporation as a venue for schools' football matches. The discovery that the site was contaminated led to the ground becoming derelict in the 1990s, and it was subsequently demolished.

History

Rosebery Park was named after the former Prime Minister, the 5th Earl of Rosebery.^[1] Located on the south-west side of Toryglen Street near Polmadie Road,^{[citation needed]} it was the home of Shawfield from 1918 to 1960. Pollok also sometimes used the ground in the late 1920s whilst they were without a permanent ground.^[2]

Following the demise of Shawfield, the Glasgow Corporation Education Committee arranged to buy the ground in 1961 in order to provide a venue for the schools' football competitions they organised.^[3] After being refurbished at a total cost of £14,000, the ground was reopened for schools' matches in April 1963.^[4] Proposals to stage speedway racing were put forward during the winter of 1986 - 1987 but nothing became of them.

Rosebery Park fell into disuse after it was discovered that the site had become contaminated by Chrome waste from factories in nearby Shawfield, Rutherglen.^[5][6] It had not hosted football for a number of years prior to being cleared and redeveloped to make way for the M74 motorway extension.^[7][8]

References

1. O'Brien, Ged (2010). Played in Glasgow. London: Malavan Media. p. 63. ISBN 978-0-954744-557.
2. "The History of Pollok Football Club (1908-1977)". Pollok Football Club. Retrieved 7 April 2015.
3. "News in Brief". The Glasgow Herald. 15 April 1961. Retrieved 7 April 2015 – via Google News Archive.
4. "New Stadium for Schoolboys". The Glasgow Herald. 26 April 1963. Retrieved 7 March 2015 – via Google News Archive.
5. NCE - Stabilising Glasgow (subscription required)
6. "Calcium polysulfide remediation of hexavalent chromium contamination from chromite ore processing residue". 27 October 2005. Retrieved 30 September 2017.
7. "M74 Completion". Trunk road projects. Transport Scotland. Retrieved 5 April 2011.
8. M74 scheme leaflet showing route of road (large pdf file; ground was located just north of the Polmadie Road junction)

External links

• Video-clip of derelict ground from 1998