Rugby Park

 

Kilmarnock 2-1 Dunfermline

7th April 2001

Still not really a Pars' fan (that would come later), I chose this game nevertheless, as it was one of the few played that day with anything riding on it.  Kilmarnock had just secured a top six finish and Dunfermline needed a win to maintain any hope of joining them.  

So in with the away support I went; who seemed to take great delight in attempting to wind-up Ally McCoist, then busy winding down his playing days at Rugby Park.  

In a nod to both his burgeoning media career and jack-the-lad reputation, the visiting choir set up a chant of “McCoist has shagged Sue Barker”, to which the cheeky chappy himself gave a vigorous nod and lascivious grin.  This response seemed to cheer the visiting half-wits inordinately, but Wee Coisty soon shut them up with a delightful opening goal two minutes before the break.

A cross from Alan Mahood on the Killie right reached McCOIST eight metres out, he sold Andrius Skerla a hilarious dummy before prodding the ball past an equally flummoxed Marco Ruitenbeek.  I am fairly sure this was McCoist’s last goal in competitive football, and I feel somewhat honoured to have witnessed it.

  
He retired the following month, with a career total of 403 goals in 772 matches, and although a deal of these were shooting fish in a barrel tap-ins for a then obscenely affluent Teddy Bears, it was still impressive by anyone’s standards.

The Kilmarnock badge has been described as two squirrels autographing a football.

I am not quite sure what is happening here, for no-one appears remotely interested in the ball.

In the second-half Lee BULLEN briefly pulled the Pars back level on the hour, but parity lasted only six minutes before Gus MacPHERSON bashed one in to put Killie back in front - a lead the home side kept until the end with little difficulty.

And, Yes I did try one of the famed Killie Pies at half-time (supposedly the best to be had in Scotland), and it was, well, you know, OK.  Nice, but just a pie.  It contained no recognisable pieces of ovine anatomy, which is really all you can ask of a pie sold at a Scottish football ground.

The main entrance to Kilmarnock FC's Rugby Park (2001)

Same view in 2021

Rugby Park East Stand in 2001

Same view in 2021 - the advertising boards have changed,
and a tree in the corner has (not surprisingly) grown a bit.

The Moffat and Frank Beattie Stands (2001)

Twenty years later, the view looks almost identical.
Although there is now a section of safe standing in the Moffat Stand - see below.

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Kilmarnock v Dunfermline

17th December 2021

Rugby Park from Rugby Road.

Rear view of The Chadwick Stand

Rugby Park - Kilmarnock FC

The main stand at Rugby Park has been christened The Frank Beattie Stand.
Frank was the captain of Kilmarnock's Scottish Title winning side of 1964/65.

Away fans are housed in the Chadwick Stand.

Panorama of Rugby Park, Kilmarnock.

Kilmarnock v Dunfermline (December 2021)

There are now safe seating sections in both the East Stand...

...and in the Moffat Stand.

The Frank Beattie Stand.

The East Stand.

The fog came rolling over the main stand during the half-time break...

...eventually leading to the match being abandoned after 65 minutes, with the score at 1-1.