Stark's Park - Kirkcaldy, Fife, Scotland - Professional Sports Venues on Waymarking.com

The town of Kirkcaldy (pronounced Kirkcawdy with a silent L) is situated on the Firth of Forth coast in the Kingdom of Fife in eastern Scotland. A football club was formed in 1883 taking its name from the Raith Estate and played at Sand's Brae close to the esplanade.

The club then played at two venues closer to the current ground including a local cup tie where a riot broke out in the crowd. A local councillor, rope manufacturer and licensee, Robert Stark managed to clear the pitch by letting loose a bull he kept in a byre at the top of the pitch.

In 1891 the club moved to its present location and named the ground after Stark, making it the only ground in the UK that rhymes. The location, with its irregular shape wedged between the East Coast Railway line to the west and Pratt Street to the east has endured to this day.

The ground's capacity was at 12,000 when the club became Fife's first Scottish league club in 1902. The main stand, which has remained since, was built in 1922 towards the south-east corner of the ground, the stand being cut off northwards pathway up the pitch due to Pratt Street's proximity towards the north-east corner.

The record gate was set in February 1953 for a match against Hearts, when the attendance was 31,306. In 1956 covers were erected at both ends and floodlights were inaugurated in 1960 with a match against Israeli champions, Petach Tikvas.

In 1981 a cantilevered roof went up at the railway side, like the main stand this only extended a part of the way up the pitch due to the angle of the railway behind. This would eventually be extended in 1996, along with two new end stands.

An artificial pitch was laid in 2018, and despite calls for a new out of town site, this eccentric venue still remains the club's home at the southern end of the town.

Source - Football Grounds of Britain - Simon Inglis