![]() Entrance, west side | |
Location | Cliftonville Street Belfast, Northern Ireland |
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Coordinates | 54°37′10″N5°56′50″W / 54.61944°N 5.94722°W |
Owner | Cliftonville FC |
Operator | Cliftonville FC |
Capacity | 8,000 (3,000 seated) [1] |
Surface | Artificial [2] |
Opened | 20 August 1890 [3] |
Tenants | |
Cliftonville FC (1890- ) Newington (2018- ) |
Solitude is a football stadium in Belfast, Northern Ireland. It is the oldest football stadium in Ireland, and the home ground of Ireland's oldest football club, Cliftonville. [4] The stadium holds 6,224, but is currently restricted to 2,530 under safety legislation. [5]
The stadium was built in 1890 [6] and has undergone several renovations. In 2002, a new stand was built at one end of the ground to house visiting supporters, and in 2008, a new stand was completed behind the goal at the east end of the ground. A synthetic 3G pitch was installed to replace the previous grass surface in 2010. [7]
Solitude was opened in 1890 after Cliftonville moved across the road from Oldpark Avenue. The ground holds the distinction of having the first ever penalty in International Football taken there. [8] Previously consisting of two pitches (the second of which was sold off and now contains housing), Solitude is the oldest football ground in Ireland.
Solitude has hosted a number of cup finals and international games. During the 1890s and early 1900s Solitude was the home ground of Ireland, replacing the Ulster Cricket Ground at Ballynafeigh. During the 1890s, the ground hosted 11 home internationals. On 3 March 1894, after thirteen attempts Ireland, playing at Solitude, finally avoided defeat to England. Against an England team that included Fred Spiksley and Jack Reynolds, Ireland gained a 2–2 draw. Goals from Olphert Stanfield and W.K. Gibson inspired Ireland to come back from 2–0 down to gain a 2–2 draw. The ground continued to host Ireland internationals into the early 1900s, but was gradually replaced as Ireland's home ground by Windsor Park and Dalymount Park.
The ground contains the following stands: [9]
The main stand at Solitude, situated on the western side of the ground, is for Cliftonville supporters only. It is now a very old structure, having been constructed during the 1950s. [10] It has two tiers. The lower tier is terracing and seating, and the upper tier has a mixture of seating and benches. Its capacity is over 2,500 people.[ citation needed ]
The original stand was destroyed in January 1949 when a fire broke out after a Linfield v Glentoran Irish Cup tie. The match was staged at Solitude as Windsor Park had been closed for a month in the aftermath of the infamous 1948 Linfield v Belfast Celtic Boxing Day tie at which serious crowd trouble erupted.[ citation needed ]
Also contained within the main stand at Solitude is Cliftonville Social Club, Cliftonville's licensed premises.
Cliftonville are hoping to secure funding to replace the Main Stand with a modern fit for purpose structure.
The old Cage Stand was demolished and a new stand seating 1,600 was opened on 27 October 2008. Now known as the McAlery Stand in honour of our founder, it houses new facilities under this stand include dressing rooms.
Often referred to as "The Bowling Green End" (due to the bowling green behind it), the away end on the north side of the ground underwent a major facelift in 2001, when the covered terracing used to house away fans was replaced by an 880 all-seated stand.
The Waterworks Stand was temporarily erected first for a UEFA Champions League game against Scottish Champions Celtic. As of 2023 it has remained a grass bank and is used for television gantry purposes.
The Whitehouse, not unlike "the Cottage" at Fulham's ground Craven Cottage, used to contain the changing facilities and the board room for the club. However due to funding issues no works have been done to upgrade the facilities.
Floodlights Installed as part of a floodlight improvement project funded by the Irish Football Association through the UEFA HatTrick II Assistance Programme, Solitude’s new 800 lux constructions stand at 35 metres in height and were used for the first time in Cliftonville’s 4-0 defeat of Linfield on September 21, 2009.
Linfield Football Club is a Northern Irish professional football club, based in south Belfast, which plays in the NIFL Premiership – the highest level of the Northern Ireland Football League. The fourth-oldest club on the island of Ireland, Linfield was founded in 1886 by workers at the Ulster Spinning Company's Linfield Mill. Since 1905, the club's home ground has been Windsor Park, which is also the home of the Northern Ireland national team and is the largest football stadium in Northern Ireland. They train at Midgley Park which is beside the stadium. The club's badge displays Windsor Castle, in reference to the ground's namesake.
Cliftonville Football & Athletic Club is a semi-professional association football club playing in the NIFL Premiership – the top division of the Northern Ireland Football League. The club was founded in September 1879 by John McAlery in the suburb of Cliftonville in north Belfast and are the founders of football in Ireland.
Crusaders Football Club is a professional Northern Irish football club playing in the NIFL Premiership. The club, founded in 1898, is based in north Belfast and plays its home matches at Seaview.
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The Northern Ireland Football League Cup is a national football knock-out cup competition in Northern Ireland open to all member clubs of the Northern Ireland Football League. It is the third-most prestigious competition in domestic Northern Irish football after the NIFL Premiership and Irish Cup. It should not be confused with the Irish League Floodlit Cup which ran from 1987–88 to 1997–98. Unlike the Irish Cup, the League Cup does not have a berth for UEFA Europa Conference League qualification. The cup has been operated by the Northern Ireland Football League since the 2013–14 season when it took over the administration from the Irish Football Association (IFA), after which the cup was renamed to the Northern Ireland Football League (NIFL) Cup.
Windsor Park is a football stadium in Belfast, Northern Ireland. It is the home ground of Linfield who own the land the stadium is built on, while the Irish Football Association own and operate the stadium and pay Linfield an annual rental fee for the use of the land on behalf of the Northern Ireland national football team. The stadium is usually where the Irish Cup final is played.
Headingley Stadium is a stadium complex in Headingley, Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. Linked by a two-sided stand housing common facilities, it comprises the two following separate grounds: Headingley Cricket Ground and Headingley Rugby Stadium.
The Ryan McBride Brandywell Stadium is a municipal football stadium in Derry, Northern Ireland. It is the home ground of League of Ireland team Derry City F.C. and (temporarily) NIFL Championship team Institute also home to NIWFA Championship Ladies Team Foyle Belles FC.
The Oval is a football stadium in Belfast, Northern Ireland, which has been home to Glentoran F.C. since 1892.
Blundell Park is a football ground in Cleethorpes, North East Lincolnshire, England and home to Grimsby Town Football Club. The stadium was built in 1899, but only one of the original stands remains. The current capacity of the ground is 9,052, after being made all-seater in summer 1995, reducing the number from around 27,000. Several relegations in previous years meant the expansion seating was also taken away; that reduced the capacity further from around 12,000 to what it is now.
Dexcom Stadium is the home of Connacht Rugby. It opened in 1927 and has been used to host Connacht Rugby matches since. Dexcom Stadium is able to hold up to 8,129 people without temporary seating. When greyhound racing racing takes place at the stadium and adjoining premises, they trade as the Galway Greyhound Stadium.
The 2007–08 Irish Premier League was the 107th edition of the Irish League, the highest level of league competition in Northern Irish football, and the 5th and final edition in its current format since its inception in 2003.
Ruaridhri James Patrick Donnelly is a Northern Irish professional footballer who plays as a striker for Cliftonville in the NIFL Premiership.
The North Belfast derby is the name given to association football matches between Cliftonville and Crusaders who play in Belfast, Northern Ireland. The two are separated by around 1.5 miles with Cliftonville based at Solitude on Cliftonville Road and Crusaders at Seaview on the Shore Road.
The Big Two derby, also referred to simply as the Big Two or Bel Classico, is the name given to the association football derby between Belfast clubs, Linfield and Glentoran. The derby is also sometimes referred to as the Belfast derby. They are the two most successful and most supported clubs in Northern Ireland league football. They traditionally face each other on Boxing Day each year which usually attracts the largest NIFL Premiership attendance of the season. They regularly play each other in the league, and have contested more cup finals together than any other two clubs. They also make up two of the three clubs that have competed in every season of Northern Ireland's top flight since its inception in 1890 – neither club ever suffering relegation.
The 2012–13 Irish League Cup was the 27th edition of the Irish League Cup, Northern Ireland's secondary football knock-out cup competition. It was contested by the twelve members of the IFA Premiership, as well as the 29 members of the IFA Championship. The competition began on 14 August 2012, and ended with the final on 26 January 2013.
The 2013–14 NIFL Premiership was the 6th season of the NIFL Premiership, the highest level of league football in Northern Ireland, the 113th season of Irish league football overall, and the 1st season of the league operating as part of the newly created Northern Ireland Football League.
The 2014–15 NIFL Premiership was the 7th season of the NIFL Premiership, the highest level of league football in Northern Ireland, the 114th season of Irish league football overall, and the 2nd season of the league operating as part of the newly-created Northern Ireland Football League.
The 2017–18 NIFL Premiership was the 10th season of the NIFL Premiership, the highest level of league football in Northern Ireland, the 117th season of Irish league football overall, and the 5th season of the league operating as part of the Northern Ireland Football League.