Balmoor Stadium sits on Balmoor Terrace, just north of Peterhead town centre, and has been home to Peterhead Football Club since it opened in 1997. The Blue Toon left Recreation Park when that ground was sold for a supermarket, and the new place helped the club into the Scottish League in 2000. For a visiting supporter it is a compact modern ground: two covered, all-seated stands along the touchlines, open standing behind both goals, and a grass pitch usually in excellent nick for the level.
The pitch measures 105 by 70 yards and runs north to south, so the goals face the open ends, not the stands. The Main Stand, also called the West Stand, runs down the western touchline. It is covered, raised a little above pitch level, and has windshields at each end, which matter when the North Sea is blowing. You reach the seats by a short flight of stairs at the front. Opposite it, the East Stand is almost the same height, fully seated and covered. Each holds roughly half of the ground’s thousand seats. Behind the north goal and the south goal there is hard standing only: no roof and no formal terrace. If the forecast is poor, the extra couple of pounds for a seat is money well spent.
Segregation is not the norm. On an ordinary afternoon you can sit or stand where you like, and home and away supporters often share the social club beforehand. When a match is segregated, visiting fans are housed in the East Stand, with a separate away ticket booth and turnstiles at the bottom of the car park. The club does not take cash at the turnstiles. Buy online, or from the ticket office in the car park by the main entrance, from up to 48 hours before the game and from 1pm on a Saturday. Standing is £15 for adults, £8 concession, £5 for ages 11 to 16, and free for under-11s with an adult. A seat in the East Stand or the Main Stand is £17, £10 and £7, with accompanied under-11s at £2. Check the club site before you travel, as prices can change.
By car, leave the A90 on the A982 into Peterhead and stay on it towards Fraserburgh. The ground is on the left after the swimming pool, with free parking for around 200 cars at the front. If that fills, use Peterhead Academy car park on Prince Street. There is no railway in the town. Aberdeen station is 32 miles away, the longest gap between a senior league ground and its nearest station in Britain, so most away followings come by coach or by Stagecoach bus to the Peterhead interchange, then a walk of under a mile up Queen Street and Balmoor Terrace.
Wrap up warmer than the forecast suggests. Both ends are open to the weather, and a breeze off the sea cuts through even when the town looks calm. Umbrellas are not allowed in. There is a social club at the back of the Main Stand that welcomes visiting supporters, a coffee shop, and a cash-only catering van inside the ground. Toilets sit under the stands. Disabled supporters should contact the club in advance on 01779 478256. Capacity is given as 4,000, though crowds are often only a few hundred. The record is 4,855, for a visit by Rangers in January 2013.