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Thursday, 21st August 2008

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Queens confirm Airdrie as their home for Europe



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UEFA has given Queen of the South the green light to base themselves at Airdrie's Excelsior Stadium for their historic European adventure.
The Scottish Cup runners-up from Dumfries have struck an agreement with Diamonds chairman Jim Ballantyne to play the Uefa Cup second qualifying round match at the ground.

A Uefa official flew into Scotland last week to check on Queen's infrastructure for hosting such a match and Queens chairman David Rae has confirmed they will play their first ever European tie at the 10,000 seater Excelsior Stadium. Rae said: "We are going to use Airdrie's ground to play our European game. A Uefa rep was over from Holland and he said there cannot be any standing at these games.

"With that in mind, we would only be able to accommodate around 2,800 fans at Palmerston Park and that would not be fair on the fans.

"Airdrie holds just over 10,000 and it fits all the criteria."

Meanwhile, 20-year-old midfielder Scott Robertson has signed a new one-year deal with the Doonhamers.





The full article contains 186 words and appears in The Scotsman newspaper.
Page 1 of 1

  • Last Updated: 03 June 2008 10:39 PM
  • Source: The Scotsman
  • Location: Edinburgh
  • Related Topics: UEFA Cup
 
1

carrottop,

Dumfries 04/06/2008 07:45:18
Same mistake Gretna made, whats wrong with Carlisle or cant the old farts get their brains working long enough to OK it. (much to radical, tich tich).
2

Phil Lawrence,

Tallinn 04/06/2008 09:34:27
Carlisle would seem a logical choice given that it is only 37 miles away from Dumfries whilst Airdrie is 73 miles distant. OK, it is in the territory of another UEFA member country but there are recent examples of clubs fulfilling their fixtures in other countries for want of a fit stadium.

However those circumstances have arisen because the host association's clubs have been unable to offer any further option at all which Scotland patently can.

As it is Brunton Park is only fully seated down one side and the main stand is placed above a large standing enclosure so even a full house would leave huge gaps around the ground - two and a half sides empty including all of both ends - which seems to be exactly what Queens wish to avoid.

Airdrie may not be the ideal location but the stadium is certainly up to standard and has hosted U21 internationals in the past so it is on UEFA's radar.

Queens should have pushed Gretna hard this time last year to groundshare on a semi-permanent basis and help them redevelop Palmerston into a 6,000 seater of SPL quality then this whole issue of where to play would not be an issue. At least Gretna might then have left some sort of worthwhile legacy from their time at our footballing top table.
3

,

04/06/2008 13:04:08
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