Book Review: Walking Down the Dunkeld Road: The History of Muirton Park

This review first appeared in the Scottish Football Historian and is reproduced by permission of the editor. The book was written by St Johnstone historians Alastair Blair, and Brian Doyle.

The authors have been very inventive in finding different ways of writing about St Johnstone's history following their two excellent chronological histories with books on greatest matches and players. The subject of their fifth collaboration is more predictable, as it celebrates the centenary of the club's move from their floodable, inadequate Recreation Grounds beneath the prison walls to a modern, more commodious, purpose-built League club ground at Muirton Park.

We will all have memories of the Dunkeld Road enclosure, with its open spaces, excellent sight-lines and always a good playing surface. Those of us who arrived by train will remember the trek to what is probably the worst railway station in Scotland, and the jog back at the end of the game to avoid the long wait for the Glasgow train, arriving on the platform to discover that a couple of the Saints' players had got there earlier, having certainly run through the dressing room showers.

The entire history of the ground, from conception to demolition, is recalled in forensic detail, and described in the authors' trademark, readable style. The opening chapter explains why the Recreation Grounds had to be abandoned, followed by the leasing and construction of Muirton Park which, inevitably, cost far more than the funds at the club's disposal.

The club's ambitions were rewarded with the development of a very good team in the late 1920s and 1930s, including Scottish internationalists. The great Arsenal team of the 1930s visited twice, and the steady rise in football attendances in the inter-war eyars certainly validated the construction of such a large ground which could, in theory, hold almost the entire population of the small city.

St Johnstone sat our the war years, conscious of the potential cost of attempting to sustain a fixture schedule at a time of great disruption to train services, and a garrison town. They were, as usual, in debt, a recurring theme throughout the time-span of the book.

As a consequence, they started post-war football as a Second Division outfit, and with the reduction of the top division from 18 clubs to 16, it meant that there were at least a couple of clubs ore desperate than them for promotion back to the First Division.

The tremendous increase in football attendances in the decade following the end of the war largely passed by Muirton, which next hosted top league action in 1960.

It was fairly rapidly lost, in dramatic fashion when Dundee won at the ground to clinch the First Division Championship, and relegate Saints - a draw would have been enough for both teams' requirements - but they quickly returned and fans and ground alike enjoyed the excellent team built by Willie Ormond, and the memorable nights of European football in 1971-721 under the floodlights.

The descent was quicker than the long rise, and the ground inevitably suffered from neglect as income dwindled. The club's next renaissance woud not take place at their 65 year old ground, although its location proved to be the club's salvation when Asda built them a new ground on the city's western edge, in exchange for the more central Muirton Park site.

Throughout the book, there are descriptions of the ground-related events that space constrains in histories of matches and plaeyrs would not accommodate. Most of these are revenue-related: the cost of improvements and upkeep, the funding events (in the early days, fetes, bazaars and sports days) to supplement turnstile income, and the many fascinating sub-tales of the relationship between a football club, its ground, its community and its supporters.

Between each chapter of the book are memories of the club's supporters of their experiences of their beloved old ground. The 272 page soft-back book is a terrific read, with interesting tales on every page and is available from the club or online from Amazon, price £25.

John Litster

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