Tontine Park
  Tontine Park Location within West Dunbartonshire | |
| Location | Renton,Scotland |
|---|---|
| Coordinates | 55°57′57″N4°34′57″W/ 55.9657°N 4.5824°W |
| Surface | Grass |
| Construction | |
| Opened | 1878 |
| Closed | 1922 |
| Demolished | 1928 |
| Tenants | |
| Renton F.C.(1878–1922) | |
Tontine Parkwas afootballground inRenton, West Dunbartonshire,Scotland. It was the home ground ofRenton F.C.from 1878 until 1922, including their time in theScottish Football League.
History
[edit]Renton moved to Tontine Park from South Park in 1878.[1][2]There were no stands at the ground, only a pavilion on the north-western corner of the pitch.[2][3]
Renton were founder members of theScottish Football Leaguein 1890, and the first league match was played at Tontine Park on 23 August 1890 with Renton drawing 2–2 withSt Mirren;however, the club were expelled from the league later in the season after playing an unauthorised friendly against 'Edinburgh Saints', a nom de plume forSt Bernard's,a team who had been suspended by theScottish FAfor paying their players, against the rules at the time.
Renton were re-instated in season1891–92,and reached the semi-finals of theScottish Cupcompetition, hostingQueen's Parkat Tontine Park in February 1892, a match in front of a 10,000 crowd which was drawn 1–1 and which saw the temporary trestle stand on the east side of the ground collapse, breaking one person's leg. Queen's Park won the replay a fortnight later.
A few weeks into the1897–98 season,Renton again resigned from the league. The last SFL match was played at Tontine Park on 16 October 1897, a 3–1 defeat toLeith Athletic.[2]
After the club folded in 1922 the site was used for housing,[2][1]withArchie McCall,one of the heroes of the 1880s, among the builders involved on the project.[4]
References
[edit]- ^abTontine Park – Renton 1878-1928,Groundtastic, via The Vale of Leven
- ^abcdPaul Smith & Shirley Smith (2005)The Ultimate Directory of English & Scottish Football League Grounds Second Edition 1888–2005,Yore Publications, p225ISBN0954783042
- ^25 inch Scotland, 1892-1949Explore Georeferenced Maps (National Library of Scotland
- ^Mitchell, Andy (2021).The men who made Scotland: The definitive Who's Who of Scottish Football Internationalists 1872-1939.Amazon.ISBN9798513846642.