 Netherdale, with the football stadium in the foreground and the rugby stadium beyond | |
  Netherdale Location within theScottish Borders | |
| Location | Nether Road,Galashiels,Scottish Borders |
|---|---|
| Coordinates | 55°36′27″N2°46′57″W / 55.607445°N 2.782545°W /55.607445; -2.782545 |
| Type | Stadium complex |
| Capacity | 4,000 (rugby ground) 2,000 (football ground) |
| Surface | Grass (rugby ground) Artificial (football ground) |
| Construction | |
| Opened | 1912 |
| Renovated | 1961–62, 1964 |
| Architect | Peter Womersley (football stand) |
| Tenants | |
| 1912– 1929–2013 ?–2013 1996–1998, 2002–2007 2013– | |
Netherdale is a sports complex inGalashiels,Scottish Borders, consisting of two adjacent stadiums used forrugby union andfootball. The rugby ground is the home ofGala RFC and was formerly used by the professionalBorder Reivers team. It hosted one match of the1999 Rugby World Cup. It has also occasionally been used forrugby league matches. The football ground is home toGala Fairydean Rovers and has aCategory A listed grandstand.
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The Netherdale complex is located on Nether Road towards the east end of Galashiels, near theRiver Tweed. The Gala rugby ground is in the north-west corner of the site, with the Gala Fairydean Rovers football ground in the south-west; the two grounds are joined end-to-end. The rest of the site is taken up by a number of undeveloped rugby and football fields known as the back pitches. Gala RFC moved to the area in 1912 from their previous ground atMossilee, initially playing on what is now the football ground before the construction of their present ground – "New Netherdale" – in 1961–62.
Gala Fairydean F.C. arrived at Netherdale in 1929, initially playing on an undeveloped pitch called Raid Stane Park, before taking over the old rugby ground. Local amateur club Gala Rovers F.C. also played at the Netherdale complex before the two clubs merged to form Gala Fairydean Rovers in 2013. Since the installation of a3G pitch in 2011, the Fairydean ground is officially known as the 3G Arena Netherdale and is also used as a community football and rugby facility.
Gala RFC had previously played at the Public Park and Mossilee before moving to Netherdale in 1912, where their new ground incorporating a pavilion and grandstand was built at a cost of £1,150.[1] The first rugby match took place in September 1912, against local rivalsHawick.[2] The rugby club continued to play on this part of the ground until the construction of the adjacent "New Netherdale" in 1961–62.
The football stadium has a capacity of around 2,000. The ground's most striking feature is the main stand, which was opened in 1964.[3] With a capacity of 500 it is the largest stand in the Scottish Borders.[3] Designed by the renowned BritisharchitectPeter Womersley in thebrutalist style, theconcrete structure is sometimes sarcastically dubbed as "theSan Siro of the Borders". It was awarded a 'B' category listing byHistoric Scotland in December 2006, which means the "character and setting" of the building must be preserved for "future generations".[3][4][5]
Historic Scotland upgraded its listing to 'A' category in December 2013, stating that the stand is "a significant work of latemodernist architecture in Scotland".[6][7][5] The stand was closed during the 2018–19 season, pending works needed to repair water damage to the concrete.[8] Works to the stand were completed in October 2022.[9]
The rugby stadium has a large grandstand which overlooks the pitch and the nearbyEildon Hills. While the professionalBorder Reivers club played, a second fully seated stand was installed, increasing the capacity to around 4,000 from the previous 2,000. New pitch protection systems were installed, which theScottish Rugby Union continued to pay the maintenance costs for even after the Border Reivers club was closed.[10]
The stadium hosted the1999 Rugby World Cup Pool A match betweenUruguay andSpain.[11][12]
Netherdale has also hosted rugby league international matches, firstly the match betweenScotland andFrance on 31 October 2014 as part of the2014 European Cup. France won that match 38–22.[13] As part of the2015 European Cup, Netherdale hosted the match between Scotland andIreland on 23 October.
Media related toNetherdale at Wikimedia Commons