victoria bridge

Home of Victoria United from their founding and the opening of the grounds in the summer of 1889 until the end of season 1899-1900 with a break of two seasons from 1892 to 1894 when they played at the Wellington Bridge grounds. The new football ground was regarded as one of the best, if not the best, football parks in Aberdeen and was also set up with a cycle racing track and a grandstand backed onto South Esplanade East. The capacity of the ground was upwards of 6000 - a large number for Aberdeen in those early days of Association Football. The ground record attendance was set at an Aberdeenshire Cup semi-final between the Vics and Aberdeen on 11th January 1890, when an estimated 6000 were present. Another important record was set when the earliest known women's match in Aberdeen was played between "The North" and "The South" - the attendance in May 1895 also came close to the 6000 capacity. The ambitious Vics hosted several big-name teams at the ground, starting with Glasgow Celtic to open, and over the years several Scottish League teams including Hearts and Partick Thistle - big names in those early years of football in Aberdeen, and Liverpool and Sheffield United from England. Unable to renew the lease at the end of season 1899-1900 United moved north to play first at Cattofield Park and then at Central Park until merging with Orion and Aberdeen in April 1903. The Victoria Bridge grounds ceased to be used for any sports by the end of 1900 and were later demolished to make way for industrial use.