Shielfield has been Berwick's home to football since at least 1889, and has hosted at least 3 clubs throughout its life.

The first mention of sport at Shielfiel was in the Illustrated Berwick Journal of March 1890, with matches between Berwick Rangers, Tweedside Rangers and Tweedmouth. Many reports from this year come from December, when there was a request for an occasional license for alcohol at the ground. This was because football matches were scheduled to be held on New Years Day and were people coming from Newcastle, Kelso, Duns and neighbouring villages. It was organised and ran by William Shiel Dodds, a local businessman who owned the field and hence the name. Gate money would be charged for admittance and a refreshment tent would be erected (a fairly early example of a gate-paying ground in these parts). It also references an attempt the year prior for the same occasion, which makes clear to me this ground was certainly used by 1889. There was also a match here on Christmas Day between a Berwick Rangers junior XI and an Alnwick Rangers junior XI. Berwick won 3-0.

Shielfield Athletic are mentioned as regular users of the ground from 1891. Though they predominantly played the teams above, matches were held against Scottish opposition like the fancily named Edinburgh Adventurers. A Science and Art team also played against Berwick Rangers here - they were presumably Durham University students from Newcastle. Heaton Rovers, Willington Athletic, North Eastern FC, Blyth, Newcastle East End and Sunderland also played here. East End actually played here just a few weeks before reforming as Newcastle United.

The ground isn't fully illustrated on maps at all, not due to lack of facility but likely a general omission. This original pitch was also the opposite alignment to the present, with goals east-west behind the terrace as shown below. The secondary pitch for Shielfiel Park remains on this alignment

Shielfield Park

The grandstand is shown which was erected in 1953, after being purchased from Bradford City. They'd first entered the Scottish league system a couple years prior, though the first official match at the modernised ground was against Aston Villa. This made for a bit of a frontier, as Scremerston FC down the road played at the North Northumberland League.

The ground was also opened for speedway, like many, in 1968. They remained here until 1981 due to internal ructions with the football club, and moved to Ancroft. A decade after, the outer ring was utilised for greyhound racing after a lease was secured for the proper construction of the track. This was at the same time Berwick Rangers were frozen out of the ground, after previously running into financial difficulties. They sold the ground to the council who leased it back, then were close to administration in 1992 and the greyhound firm kept them out. The lease was bought back in 1995 and continue to utilise the ground. Because of this, greyhound racing ended here after a short 4 years.

The grandstand roof was removed due to safety in 1990, though this has been replaced.

Some fantastic shots of the grounds construction, as well as shots of Berwick Bandits, can be seen at https://www.facebook.com/photocentreberwick