In 1904, Kilmarnock had its own tramway system built. The name of the company was Kilmarnock Corporation Tramways. An electric power station was built in the south bank of the River Irvine at Riccarton. Overhead power lines and tram lines were laid. With continued upgrading and expansion, the tram network at its peak went from Ayr Road in Riccarton at its southerly point, to Knockinlaw Road in Beansburn in the North. At Kilmarnock Cross, the line had an easterly spur that stretched along London Road, through Crookedholm and finally terminating at Hurlford. There had been proposed extensions along Portland Road, up John Finnie Street, West Langlands Street and eventually towards Crosshouse, but by this time, increasing costs and the far more flexible motor bus had made inroads and the trams ceased operation in 1926 during the General Strike. The council decided not to restart the service and the infrastructure was soon dismantled. Today the town is served by Kilmarnock railway station.
Kilmarnock has excellent road links to Glasgow with the M77 motorway now extending as far as Fenwick.
Kilmarnock is on the main road between Edinburgh, Livingston, South Lanarkshire, and Ayrshire (Irvine).
Kilmarnock has 17 schools; 13 primary and four secondary. There is also a college in the town, Kilmarnock College, formerly Kilmarnock Technical College. The schools are managed by East Ayrshire Council.
The town is host to a football club named Kilmarnock F.C., the oldest professional club in Scotland. Their home ground is the curiously named Rugby Park. The reason for the name of the ground is that when founded, the club played both football and rugby. The club has the largest supporter base of any team outside Scotland's four major cities. Rugby Park was also one of the first football grounds in Scotland to have floodlights installed. In recent years the stadium has been modernised, firstly to bring it in line with the all-seating regulations, then rebuilt totally to make a new ground. It has also hosted international football matches as well as music concerts, the most recent one was when Elton John performed here in June 2005. Derek Olgavie is also a regular appearance in the Palace Theatre.
The town also regularly plays host to professional wrestling shows, promoted by the British Championship Wrestling promotion.
There are two golf courses in the town, Annanhill Golf Course and Caprington Golf Course, which has both an 18 hole course and a nine hole course. Both these courses are council owned and run by East Ayrshire Council.
The local leisure complexes include the Galleon Centre: with a 25 metre swimming pool, baby pool, ice rink, squash courts, sauna, gym, games hall, bar area, bowling green and the New Northwest Centre (formerly the Hunter Centre) which contains an up-to-date community gym and various local medical facilities.
A leisurely stroll around the town will reveal many fine buildings. Kilmarnock boasts a large number of listed buildings. The Dick Institute, opened in April 1901, was severely damaged by fire only eight years after it opened. Some of the museums collections were lost in the fire. It reopened two years after the fire in 1911. The Dick Institute was used as an Auxiliary Hospital in 1917 during World War One.It is now shared by the Arts and Museums Service, and the Libraries, Registration and Information Service. The two Art Galleries and three Museum Galleries house permanent and temporary displays of Fine Art, Contemporary Art and Craft, Local and Industrial History and Natural Sciences. The Lending Library, Audio Library, Junior Library, Reference Library, and Learning Centre are all housed on the ground floor.
The first collection of work by Scottish poet Robert Burns, "Poems, chiefly in the Scottish dialect" was published here in 1786. It was published at the current site of the Burn's Mall, dedicated to his work. This edition is known as the "Kilmarnock Edition".
Two areas of Kilmarnock, Ellerslie and Riccarton, are associated with William Wallace and his father. Claims have been made that this is the true origin of his birthplace, and recently these have been largely substantiated. The claim that Wallace was born in Elderslie near Paisley no longer seems tenable.
John Bowring, renowned polyglot and fourth governor of Hong Kong, was Member of Parliament for Kilmarnock in 1835.
In the castle of Kilmarnock, Dean Castle, there is an exhibition of armour and weapons, and the Van Raalte collection of musical instruments.
Kilmarnock - as part of East Ayrshire Council - is twinned with five European cites and has received awards from the Council of Europe for its work in twinning.
Falkirk
Falkirk is a town in Scotland. It is home to Scottish Premier League football club Falkirk F.C.
The Scotsman
The Scotsman is a daily newspaper from Scotland, United Kingdom. It has recently been changed to a compact form, but the Sunday version remains a broadsheet
BBC Sport
BBC Sport is part of the bbc.co.uk website run by the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC). It covers all sports from football and rugby to less high-profile sports such as hockey or badminton. The site includes an discussion board called 606 to allow fans to discuss events and sports-related news. BBC Sport also covers sporting events on BBC Radio 5 Live and BBC television, e.g. The Olympics.
Turkey national football team
The Turkish national football team is the national football team of the Republic of Turkey and is worked by the Turkish Football Federation. They are in association with UEFA.
Turkey has a footballing tradition that has been bad. In World Cup competition Turkey has qualified three times for the 1950, 1954, and 2002 editions. Turkey failed to make an appearance for the 1950 World Cup because they withdrew.
Turkey made it to the semi-finals during the UEFA Euro 2008, but then lost to Germany.
"Updated on 16 June 2021"
"Updated on 16 June 2021"
Falkirk F.C.
Falkirk Football Club is a Scottish professional football club currently playing in the Scottish Premier League.
In the club's early years, a wide number of pitches and stadia were used. In 1885, the site of Brockville Park in Falkirk was leased, and there the club remained until the last day of the 2002-03 season. Due to Brockville's central location in the town, and the SPL's stringent stadium requirements, the dilapidated Brockville site, home of Falkirk for over 100 years, was no longer suitable for the club's ambitions. For season 2003-04, the club groundshared with Stenhousemuir at Ochilview stadium on the outskirts of the town. At the start of 2004-05 they moved into their new purpose built stadium which meets SPL criteria. The ground currently consists of two stands with a third due to start in the coming months.
The old Brockville ground was demolished in 2003/2004 and the land is now home to a branch of the Morrisons supermarket, which has several items of Falkirk F.C. memorabilia on site, including a turnstile from the old ground.
"As of 9 July 2009"
Hampden Park
Hampden Park in Glasgow is Scotland's national football stadium. Its primary use is the home of Queen's Park F.C. and the Scotland national football team. It is also used for pop concerts and other sporting events.
Hampden was built in 1903, though all signs of the original stadium are long gone. It is known throughout the world as an iconic home of football and celebrated its centenary on October 31 2003. The stadium also houses the offices of the Scottish Football Association and the Scottish Professional Football League. During the 2012 Olympics it also hosted matches during the early stages of the Olympic football tournament. It has also hosted prestigious sporting events such as the finals of the European Cup (now the UEFA Champions League) and the UEFA Cup.
Hampden was the key stadium of the 2014 Commonwealth Games. It hosted the athletics during the tournament, Glasgow having been announced as the host city on 9 November 2007.