Broadwood Stadium

Clyde previously played in Glasgow at Barrowfield Park, from their creation in 1877 until 1898, and then Shawfield Stadium from 1898 until they were evicted in 1986. Clyde shared Firhill with fierce rivals Partick Thistle from 1986 until 1991, and then Douglas Park with Hamilton Academical until moving to the purpose built Broadwood in 1994.[1] The move to Broadwood, 10 miles outside Glasgow,[1] meant that the club would lose some fans in the move, but hoped to gain some new supporters in the new town of Cumbernauld, which had never hosted senior football before.

The stadium opened to the public in February 1994 to a full house at that time, of 6000 fans. Clyde lost the game 3–0 against Hamilton Academical. At the time of opening, only two stands, the Main Stand and the West Stand, had been completed, giving the stadium a capacity of 6,000. The third, South Stand was completed in 1997 to bring the overall capacity to just over 8,000. Plans to complete the stadium, and bring the overall capacity to 10,000 were shelved after Clyde failed to win promotion to the Scottish Premier League in 2004. The missing fourth stand has now been replaced by a community sports centre, and opened in 2013.

Broadwood in 2023, as venue of the Scottish Junior Cup final

It also previously hosted another Scottish League club, Airdrieonians, between 1994 and 1998. Broadwood also formerly hosted Rangers reserve team matches on a regular basis. Broadwood has hosted many Scotland U-21 matches. Broadwood was the scene of a giant Scottish Cup shock in 2006, when Clyde beat holders Celtic 2–1. Broadwood has also hosted four Scottish Challenge Cup finals.

It was announced in 2015 that Cumbernauld Colts would play senior games at the stadium having been accepted into the Scottish Lowland Football League.

Scottish Women's Premier League club Glasgow City played at Broadwood for the 2020–21 season due to the unavailability of their regular ground, Petershill Park.[7]

Lowland League side Broomhill made a one-season move to Broadwood in 2022, during which the club was rebranded as Open Goal Broomhill and managed by former Celtic, Dundee & Portsmouth midfielder Simon Ferry. It was announced in March 2023 that Ferry would leave the club at the conclusion of the 2022-23 season and Open Goal's involvement with the club would also come to an end. Broomhill moved to the Dumbarton Football Stadium at the start of the 2023-24 campaign.

Broadwood has been used for one-off games by Cumbernauld RFC.[8]

It was chosen to host the 2014 Finals Day.[6] Heriots beat Hawks in the RBS Cup Final 31–10.

It is home to Scottish Rugby Academy, Glasgow and the West. Work is now underway to create a new purpose-built facility, on-site, with fitness and medical equipment, all part of Scottish Rugby's major policy initiative to develop a regional Academy system that provides the best possible support to players, both male and female, who have been identified as having genuine potential for the future.[9]

The stadium was also home to the inaugural Rugby League Commonwealth Championships; a 9s competition entered by 8 teams from the Commonwealth, won by the Papua New Guinea national rugby league team.[10]

Broadwood Stadium from the air

Broadwood has three all seated stands with a capacity of 7,936.[2] It is equipped with a full size astroturf pitch. It also has four 5-a-side pitches for public use, changing rooms, and a gymnasium, the latter being located to the north side of the pitch.

For the 2012–13 season, Clyde will play their football on a new 3rd generation synthetic pitch.[3][11] Broadwood will hence become a multi-purpose stadium.

It has a purpose-built rugby facility, on-site, with state-of-the-art fitness and medical equipment.

Along with the introduction of a 3G surface, Broadwood is now shared between Cumbernauld Colts and Clyde.[3][12] Cumbernauld Colts are now the primary licence holders of the Stadium and the site is used 7 days a week. The Colts community development program means that all age ranges use the stadium on a daily basis. With Colts entering the Scottish Lowland League, Broadwood Stadium will host a second senior club from 2015 to 2016.[12]

Clyde announced in December 2010 their intention to leave Broadwood for a site elsewhere.[13] In October 2011, they revealed that East Kilbride was one of the possible locations that they were exploring. They continued to play home games at Broadwood as secondary licence holders.[14] Clyde did however have priority over first team matches. In June 2015, The Herald reported that Clyde's preferred option was to return to Glasgow, sharing with Shettleston Juniors.[15]

In April 2022, Clyde announced they would be leaving Broadwood at the end of the 2021–22 season, ending their 28-year stay in Cumbernauld. They entered ground-sharing with Hamilton Academical at New Douglas Park from the start of the 2022–23 season, with a view of relocating to a new home back in Glasgow in the near future.[16] Clyde's last match at Broadwood ended in a 5–0 defeat to Airdrieonians on 23 April 2022.[17]

• Stadium relocations in Scottish football

• Media related to Broadwood Stadium at Wikimedia Commons