Beresford Park, Ayr
We headed down to Somerset Park to watch Ayr United as part of the 42 tour and as part of the research I like to do in preparation of the usual post game blog, I noted that another old Scottish Football Ground being the home of former Scottish Football League members, Ayr FC and Ayr Parkhouse F.C who would amalgamate to become Ayr United in 1910.
Ayr F.C and later Ayr Parkhouse would play their football at Beresford Park located in the town centre of Ayr next to Ayr Station as noted in the plan below.
Ayr FC are the eldest club of the two former Ayr clubs, forming in 1897 and stayed in the Scottish second tier during their entire existence until the amalgamation in 1910 with Ayr Parkhouse.
Ayr Parkhouse, who had formed as an amateur team a few years before, joined the Scottish 2nd Division in 1903, finishing dead last and did not seek re-election after their first year. They came back again in 1906 and stayed a league member until 1910.
The amalgamation in 1910 would pay off with promotion of the new Ayr club in to the first tier for the first time just 3 years later.
The amalgamation however meant the demise of Beresford Park football ground as Somerset Park was chosen as the preferred venue for Ayr United.
Beresford Park opened its doors in 1884 and Ayr FC initially where the tenants until they moved to Somerset park in 1888. Ayr Parkhouse took up residency of Beresford Park and continued to play their football at the town centre ground until 1910. The ground appears to have two pavilions/stands according to the map from the 1920’s above and stretches up to the dead-end train tracks still in place to this day.
Parkhouse Street in Ayr, coming off Station Bridge was established after the demise of the ground and would assume that the street is named over the former inhabitants of Beresford Park.
The ground itself continued to operate and was used by Ayr United during the first world war although the reason for this is unclear. The football ground was closed down and demolished around 1926.
The ground is now the sight of the Odeon Cinema, which in itself is an iconic building in Ayr, built 1938, the art deco building stands over the former football ground, another consigned to the history of Scottish Football.
I made the concious decision the day after taking the above photo that I would do research at the start of the day on our recent trip tp Ayr and somehow managed to get this photo while barely being able to focus myself.
Until next time
The 42
The 42 