Announcement - 16th June 2022
Archaeology Scotland uncovers a true gem of Scottish Football Heritage finding the original Team Baths and Changing Room of 3rd Lanark's Cathkin Park Football Ground.
Archaeologists from Archaeology Scotland are currently excavating the remains of Cathkin Park, one of Scotland’s most iconic football grounds, located in the South Side of Glasgow. Cathkin Park was home to Third Lanark from 1904 until their untimely and infamous demise in 1967. Their ground was abandoned with the grandstand and pavilion being demolished in the 1970’s. Amazingly, the terracing that surrounds three parts of the ground still survive, and the remains stand in memory of the teams, players and fans that once graced this iconic footballing location. This iconic site forms part of Football's Square Mile, which is the world's biggest open-air football museum and The Hampden Collection is running a campaign to make this a UNESCO world heritage site.
Following extensive geophysics of the grounds and through a previous smaller dig in 2017, the team were able to locate where they thought the original pavilion may be situated. Following careful excavation on Wednesday 22nd June, the team made an amazing discovery finding the original Team Baths and the original Changing Room of this iconic football ground.
The team explained their delight on Twitter - "If you thought yesterday's find was amazing, we hit the jackpot today! We found the Third Lanark bath and changing room! An amazing find and a real piece of history. We can only imagine what these tiles saw and the players that once took an early bath here!"
This builds on earlier finds this week, which include the famous red and white colours of Third Lanark on newly discover floor tiles.
The team's discover was again shared on Twitter - "Who needs the Alexander Mosaic in #Pompeii when you have got your very own football heritage mosaic on your doorstep at Cathkin Park."
Dr Paul Murtagh of Archaeology Scotland and Project Lead, explains the importance of this inclusion focused project, "This programme is focused on working with New Scots, refugees and asylum seekers, and we feel that both sport and archaeology are ways in which we can engage with people from all over the world, help them learn about the history of Scotland and Glasgow, and help them settle into their new homes, make friends and have positive experiences."
The project is running until the 26th of June, and members of the public are invited to come along with their brushes and garden rakes on the morning of Saturday the 25th of June between 1pm and 3pm to help clean up the terracing around the pitch, share stories and memories of the ground, and celebrate the life of Cathkin Park and all the football that took place there. The Jimmy Johstone Charitable Trust has been cleaning the Terraces since 2009 and it would be great for the public to come down and visit this remarkable site they are looking after, and give them a helping hand.
You can follow progress on the site via Twitter - Click Here - https://twitter.com/AdoptaMonument and for more details on the dig please check out the press release below, dated 9th June 2022.
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