Edinburgh City confirm groundshare with city neighbours Spartans during renovation of Meadowbank

BY ALAN TEMPLE – @CCP_Sport

EDINBURGH CITY have announced that they will groundshare with city rivals Spartans for the next three years while Meadowbank Stadium is redeveloped.

The ageing arena, built for the Commonwealth Games of 1970, is set undergo a £41 million renovation, becoming a state-of-the-art sports centre.

However, it means the League Two outfit will be forced to vacate their home since 1995 this summer.

A switch to Spartans’ Ainslie Park was always City’s preferred option, given their 3G artificial surface will not be effected by the wear and tear of repeated use, while the facilities are comfortably of an SPFL standard.

And the agreement to make the four-mile move to north Edinburgh has now been confirmed, subject to SPFL board and Scottish Lowland Football League approval.

City chairman Jim Lumsden beamed: “I’m absolutely delighted that we’ll be moving to what is a tremendous footballing facility at Ainslie Park whilst Meadowbank is being redeveloped.

“I’d like to thank [Spartans chairman] Craig Graham and the rest of the board at Spartans for all of their help in putting this agreement together.

“Although both clubs have been close rivals on the park, we’ve always been good friends off it and I’m sure this agreement will benefit both clubs going forward.”