If you are coming to watch your side at The Spartans, Ainslie Park is an easy ground to find and a friendly one to stand in. It sits behind the leisure centre on Pilton Drive in north Edinburgh, and the club has been here since the enclosure opened in 2008. Sponsorship also gives it the name Vanloq Community Stadium. The pitch is a full-size floodlit 3G surface, with a second artificial pitch immediately east of the Main Stand. Capacity is about 3,600, a little over 500 of them seated, so a normal League Two crowd stays close to the play.
Put 94 Pilton Drive, Edinburgh, EH5 2HF into the satnav. Lothian Buses 21 and 27 run along Ferry Road: get off outside Morrisons at the Crewe Toll end and walk about five minutes up Pilton Drive. The ground is on the left after the hump bridge, behind the sports centre. The 19, 22, 24, 29 and 37 also drop you at Crewe Toll. From Waverley or Haymarket a bus is usually simpler than a taxi unless you are in a group. On-site parking is scarce because the leisure centre is busy, so use street spaces on Pilton Drive and nearby roads, and leave driveways clear. The Morrisons car park is close, but it is time-limited.
The four turnstiles at the Pilton Drive entrance open an hour before kick-off and are used by home and away supporters. You can pay at the gate or buy ahead through Fanbase. Adult entry has recently been around £19, with concessions lower, so check the club site before you travel. There is normally no strict segregation. Visiting supporters are asked to use the north section of the Main Stand and the North End terracing, a low grass bank behind the north goal. The covered Main Stand runs along the east touchline. Opposite it, the shorter Newtown Roofing and Building Stand is the family stand. It covers only about a third of the pitch, from the penalty area to the halfway line, and it is where the younger Spartans support gathers, drums included, so that side is best left to them.
Toilets are behind the Main Stand, with more facilities around the ground. A hut beside the turnstiles sells programmes, lately £3, and club merchandise before the game. Catering stands do hot and cold drinks, pies and bridies, and there is a half-time raffle. A modest clubroom and café in the stand building is the place to get out of the weather. Pubs are thin on the ground in Pilton itself. The Village Hotel at Crewe Toll, just the other side of Ferry Road, is the nearest easy option for a pre-match pint.
The artificial surface stays playable in bad weather and the ball runs true, though it can feel firm underfoot. Sightlines are good from the seats and from both open ends. Stewards are low-key on an ordinary league afternoon, and the club has a reputation for looking after visitors. Once you are through the turnstiles, head for the North End if you want the goal in front of the away terrace. The south goal faces the open standing at the other end of the ground.