New Douglas Park/ Fountain of Youth Stadium (Hamilton)

New Douglas Park, also known as the Fountain of Youth Stadium for sponsorship purposes, is a football stadium in Hamilton, South Lanarkshire, Scotland, which serves as the home of Scottish Championship side Hamilton Academical and Scottish League One side Clyde. It takes its name from Douglas Park, the club’s former stadium, which was located immediately to the south of the current site.

General information

Arena capacity: 6,018 spectators

Address: Cadzow Avenue, Hamilton, South Lanarkshire, ML3, Scotland

GPS coordinates for the navigator: 55°46′55.76″N 4°03′30.61″W

Year of construction: 2001

Field: artificial 3G lawn with dimensions of 115 x 75 yards

Seating plan of New Douglas Park

Main Stand

The Main Stand is single-tiered but elevated above ground.

Supporters enter through the turnstiles and walk around to the front of the stand, then making use of one of several red staircases that lead up to the elevated seating area. There are however flat platforms with white seating down at the very front which are available for disabled supporters to use. Most of the seating blocks inside this stand form red and white horizontal stripes, though there are two columns of red seating in the stand’s centre that are for executive use. The New Douglas Park dugouts, tunnel and changing room are all located on this side of the ground.

Your view from anywhere inside the Main Stand is perfectly clear, and large windshields at either end protect all but the very front row of the elevated seating area.

North Stand

The North Stand is very similar in design to the adjacent Main Stand.

It is single-tiered but elevated above ground. Supporters enter through the turnstiles and walk around to the front of the stand, then making use of one of several red staircases that lead up to the elevated seating area. The seating blocks inside this stand form red and white horizontal stripes.

Your view from anywhere inside the North Stand is perfectly clear, and large windshields at either end protect all but the very front row of the elevated seating area.

East Stand

The East Stand is single-tiered and much, much smaller than either the North or Main Stands.

It consists of entirely red seating, and the gantry holding the matchday camera is atop the stand’s roof.

Supporting pillars come down regularly along the front of the East Stand and will restrict the view of most sat behind them. The best views on this side of the stadium are likely to come from the front row seats that are between each pillar.

The stand does have a back wall to it, but both sides are left open with just metal fences in place here to offer support.

The East Stand was a temporary structure when it became erected in March 2008, but still remains to this day, albeit the stand is not that often in use.

There is no stand of any sort on the southern side of New Douglas Park.

Away Fans

Away fans are typically housed behind the goal in the North Stand.

This is a single-tiered stand that has its seating area elevated above ground. Fans reach it by heading through turnstiles in the nearby corners, walking round to the front of the stand, and then heading up one of several red staircases.

Views from anywhere inside here are perfectly clear, and large windshields at either end provide protection to all but the very front row.

On occasions where large away crowds are expected, the East Stand can also be opened and made available for use.

The East Stand is dwarfed by the northern and western sides of the stadium. It is made up of just a few rows of red seating with no protection from the sides.

Supporting poles are in place across the front of the stand and will likely restrict the view for most if not all of the fans sat inside. Your best view in this part of the stadium will likely come from the front rows seats between each pole.

Entry to this side of New Douglas Park comes via turnstiles in the ground’s northeast corner.

Where to buy tickets?

The ticket pricing scheme at New Douglas Park is blessedly easy to understand. The club do not categorize their matches, nor do they charge different amounts of money to sit in different parts of the stadium. There is a flat fee for Hamilton matches, perhaps because the club only averages just over 3,000 supporters in a ground built for double that amount.

You can get tickets over the phone, on the day of the match from the turnstiles or from the club’s ticket office.

How to get there?

New Douglas Park is located close to the areas of Burnbank and Whitehill, around 0.5 miles north of Hamilton Town Centre. The River Clyde is around 0.9 miles away to the north, Hamilton Park Racecourse is roughly 0.5 miles away to the east, and Strathclyde Loch is around 0.6 miles further east from the Racecourse.

There are a number of car parking spaces around the northern and western sides of New Douglas Park, but these are for club officials and permit holders only.

You will need to head away from the ground to find free parking, but that should be possible given the number of residential streets that are relatively close by. Ensure though that you are legally allowed to park where you find and do not block the drives of any residents.

The nearest train station to New Douglas Park is Hamilton West, served by ScotRail services that run from Glasgow to the northwest. The station is directly south of the ground, and the walk from here to the can take around 5-10 minutes.

The common route for most is along a road off the A724 that goes by the western side of the rail tracks and then onto William Street, before turning right, heading under the railway, and emerging into the West Car Park.

Alternatively, there is a narrow footpath that runs alongside the eastern side of the rail tracks, heading past the large Sainsbury’s supermarket and dropping down outside the ground’s southwest corner. Which route you take really depends on which platform at Hamilton West Station you arrive at.

It’s not recommended getting a train to Hamilton Central Station. This is on the same line as Hamilton West and much further away from New Douglas Park. The walk from here can take upwards of 25 minutes.

Where to eat and sleep?

Hamilton doesn’t have the same popularity as Edinburgh or Glasgow, but it’s still got a couple of nice hotels for your consideration.

1. Days Inn Hamilton. This member of the Days Inn chain of hotels is just off the motorway on the way towards the ground. It’s about fifteen minutes walk away, should you choose to walk it, and there’s a restaurant as well as a game room, free Wi-Fi and free parking.
2. Holiday Inn Express Hamilton. Holiday Inn hotels are well-known pretty much everywhere, so you should know what to expect. There’s a restaurant, a bar, a meeting room, a free buffet breakfast and Wi-Fi available. It’s about twenty minutes walk from the stadium.
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3. Hilton Strathclyde Hotel. This Hilton hotel is three and a half miles from New Douglas Park but it’s worth travelling to. There’s a restaurant, a bar, a health club with an indoor pool, spa services and a conference space. There’s also free Wi-Fi in the reception and free parking.

Scotland is a great country to have a drink in and Hamilton is a lovely city to head to. Here are some of our favourite places to try.

1. Academical Vaults. Close to Hamilton West station is this popular meeting place for Accies fans. It has a top drinks selection, a tasty menu and, of course, loads of TVs for the sport watching public.
2. The Tap Room. Just along the road from Academical Vaults is this pleasant, independently run pub with a great cocktail selection, loads of eating options and a brilliant atmosphere. For your more discerning drinker rather than out and out sports fan, though.
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3. Bar West. Bar West has an excellent set of food options from a ‘gastropub’ style menu. There are also plenty of real ales to choose from, TVs for the sport and a great beer garden outside if the weather is nice.

Facilities

The facilities throughout the ground are probably best described as basic. The views are good from all around, especially The North Stand, and there are plenty of places to get food and drink, but that’s about it.

Hamilton do offer hospitality packages, with most entailing a champagne reception and complimentary pre-match drinks followed by a three-course meal with wine. You’ll get seating either in the suite or in The West Stand, half-time refreshments and free drinks after the match.

New Douglas Park offers function rooms for up to 200 guests, so whether it’s a business conference or a big birthday bash, they should be able to look after you – and for a reasonable price too. AD Hospitality deal with all of the Accies Functions.

History

It opened with regular, normal grass, but that wasn’t good enough for the Accies. In 2004, they installed FieldTurf, an artificial turf that could take more of a beating from the typically troublesome Scottish weather. When Hamilton gained promotion to the top-flight in 2008, it had to be removed as the Scottish Premier League didn’t allow artificial turf to be used. But during the 2013/14 season, they went back to playing on an artificial surface.

Along with grass, 2008 saw the building of a temporary stand in order to ensure New Douglas Park met the minimum requirements for stadium capacity. In 2013, The Accies removed the grass to install Tigerturf, another artificial surface that met the Premier League’s requirements.