St Johnstone

During the early existence of St. Johnstone Football Club their matches were played at the Recreation Grounds, land next to the South Inch that was was a large public park on the bank of the River Tay. Its proximity to the river meant it flooded regularly, however, so the team moved to a new ground on the other side of the Perth area called Muirton Park. There the club remained for more than half a century until the ground fell into disrepair during the 1980s. Sadly the club could not afford to repair their old haunt and the future of St. Johnstone looked dire. In what would be an incredibly fortunate twist of fate, the supermarket giant Asda decided it wanted to purchase the Muirton Park land and in return they would move the club to a new, purpose-built ground on the West of the city. A farmer, Bruce McDiarmid, gave up sixteen acres of land for the stadium to built on, which had an approximate cost of £400,000. He wouldn’t take any money for it, but was eventually persuaded to accept a 20% stake in club as well as the title of Honorary President. The ground was also named after him. What a guy.