Hotels near Rugby Park
Rugby Park is a football stadium situated in the Scottish town of Kilmarnock. It was first used in 1899 and is the home of Kilmarnock FC. It underwent a major redevelopment in 1994–95, becoming an all-seater stadium with a capacity of 18,128. In addition to its main duty of hosting home matches for Kilmarnock it has been the venue for two Scottish international matches. It can also be used for concerts, with Elton John playing to 15,000 in a first for the venue. In 2002, the club constructed Park Hotel, a 4-star complex next to the ground.
Kilmarnock first played football matches at the present Rugby Park site in 1899. Despite this, the venue is actually Kilmarnock’s fourth home ground. The Grange, Holm Quarry and Ward's Park all hosted matches, before the club moved to Rugby Park in 1877. This was not the present stadium, but one situated close by near South Hamilton Street. This ground was shared by cricket and rugby teams - sports which Kilmarnock had played previously - and the connection with rugby gave the ground its name. This name was taken with the club when they moved to their present stadium. The ground was inaugurated with a match against then-champions Celtic on August 1st, when Kilmarnock fought back from a 2–0 deficit to secure a draw. It was their first match in the top tier of Scottish football, having won the Second Division the previous season.
Despite becoming a modern, all-seater stadium, a number of features in the design of the stands give it a unique look. All stands bar the West Stand have very little beneath them, as the tea bars and toilets are located under the lowest possible point towards the pitch. The rest of the area underneath is open tarmac, with the steel framework fully exposed. Moreover, the turnstiles for the three newer stands are built into a perimeter wall rather than the stadium itself, and there are very large open air spaces before the stands themselves. Other stadiums have a similar design - for example Tynecastle’s Roseburn Stand, although there is considerable less space there. One advantage is that since the public smoking ban has come into force it has been possible for fans to stand in the open areas at half-time for a cigarette.
The East Stand is distinctive in appearance as it does not cover the full length of the pitch, tapering before ending around 15yds before the extremity of the pitch. This is because the ground behind the stand is residential, and can not be built on. However, the gap is not as large as a similar truncation at Fir Park, for example, and is filled by flags. There is an electronic scoreboard at either end of the stadium - this is unusual in Scotland as only four other Scottish Premier League teams have any form of scoreboard and only Rangers and Celtic have more than one.
29 hotels
HOTELS
Location: Kilmarnock
Distance: 0.01 miles
Rating: 4*
Prices From: £67.00
Location: Kilmarnock
Distance: 1.51 miles
Rating: NOT CLASSIfIED
Prices From: £Call for details.
Location: Kilmarnock
Distance: 2.00 miles
Rating: 2*
Prices From: £39.00
Location: Irvine
Distance: 3.80 miles
Rating: 4*
Prices From: £42.00
Location: Kilmarnock
Distance: 3.97 miles
Rating: 3*
Prices From: £49.00
Location: Irvine
Distance: 5.50 miles
Rating: 4*
Prices From: £62.00
Location: Irvine
Distance: 5.86 miles
Rating: 3*
Prices From: £89.00
Location: Troon
Distance: 5.87 miles
Rating: 4*
Prices From: £75.00
Locations near Rugby Park
Attractions near Rugby Park
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