Stadiums

I was thinking about how football grounds have improved over the last 10/15 years, which made me wonder how many I’ve actually visited over the years.

So, here are the grounds I have visited. I’ve included stadiums that no longer exist (such as the beautiful Plough Lane), but only current Premier and Football League clubs, and international stadiums:

Arsenal - Highbury. One of my favourite stadiums, in many ways it was a real shame when they knocked it down. I always loved the character and the history of the place.

Barnsley - Oakwell. What you’d call a typical northern ground if that makes sense. Not a bad looking stadium but always, always freezing cold.

Birmingham City - St. Andrews. A decent enough stadium. A kind of typical built-up ground, but has good character.

Bournemouth - Dean Court. I went to Bournemouth for a pre-season friendly many years ago so I’ve not been since it was modernised, and come to mention it the only thing I remember about the place is that it’s not actually in Bournemouth.

Brighton & Hove Albion - The Goldstone Ground. I went to the Goldstone Ground to watch an FA Cup Third Round match against Luton many years ago, and from what I can remember Brighton won 4-1, it was freezing cold, wet, and pretty miserable. As for the ground, pass.

Bristol City - Ashton Gate. Another ground I visited as a much younger boy and as such remember very little about.

Charlton Athletic - The Valley. I like the Valley, it’s a really nice stadium. I was lucky enough to be at Charlton’s first game back at the Valley, and having also gone in 2007 it was good to see how the ground has improved. It’ll be a lot better if they sorted out the stand the away fans are in though.

Chelsea - Stamford Bridge. I went to the Bridge many years ago, back before Chelsea were rich and had done the stadium up. I think the last I went there was te season Luton were relegated from Division One. If memory serves Chelsea won 4-1, and the Luton fans were doing the conga through the terraces at having finally scored.

Coventry City - Highfield Road. Another ground I have seen change through the years. Also the first ground I ever swore at, and can still remember the smack I received from my mum for calling Steve Ogrizovic a naughty word.

Crystal Palace - Selhurst Park. A dump. Hasn’t changed for years, and it’s a miserable place to visit.

Derby County - The Baseball Ground. What you’d call a good-old fasioned football ground. I can’t remember ever seeing a blade of grass on the pitch there.

Grimsby Town - Blundell Park. I went there once, to watch Luton, and surprisingly they lost. Another freezing cold place.

Ipswich Town - Portman Road. The less said about that the better.

Leicester City - Filbert Street, Walkers Stadium. My one memory of Filbert Street is having coins thrown at me by the home fans when I was about 13. The Walkers Stadium to me is just another soul-less new stadium with zero atmosphere (at least on the two occasions I have been there).

Liverpool - Anfield. I have visited Anfield twice and found it to be a strange place. TheKop is just as impressive in the flesh as it is on TV, but it wasn’t as magical as I had expected.

Luton Town - Kenilworth Road. One of the few grounds where I have sat in every area of. Not a nice place to go as a visiting supporter (unless Simon Lappin is taking a free kick in the last minute ).

Middlesbrough - Ayresome Park. Where I discovered a.) the true meaning of coldness, and b.) that Middlesbrough is a very long way to go to watch a dull 0-0 draw.

Millwall - The (Old) Den. A truly scary place to go (although I was only about 12 at the time)

MK Dons/Wimbledon - Plough Lane, Selhurst Park, National Hockey Stadium, Stadium:mk. Plough Lane was an absolutely disgusting place to visit. I’ve already made my feelings on Selhurst Park pretty clear. Going to the Hockey Stadium was a strange experience, but I did get to witness one of the best goals I’ve ever seen in person. I visited stadiummk to watch England U19s, and I was pretty impressed. They’ve built the top tier (which would enable the stadium to hold 33,000) but not added the seats or completed it in order to save costs, which is a pretty good idea - even if the ground does then look a little incomplete.

Newcastle United - St. James’ Park. A truly awe-inspiring stadium. It’s no wonder there’s so much pressure on the players and managers up there.

Northampton Town - Sixfields. A tidy little stadium, but I found it to be lacking a little in atmosphere.

Norwich City - Carrow Road. I may be biased (there’s no “may be” about it, I am) but I think Carrow Road is a lovely stadium. It’d be even better if we ever get the second tier built on the City Stand.

Nottingham Forest - The City Ground. Really nice stadium

Notts County - Meadow Lane (before and after). I went to Meadow Lane before all the work was done on it (and saw Luton relegated), and after all the work had been done on it and was impressed both times.

Oldham Athletic - Boundary Park. Not one of my favourite grounds, but very traditional.

Peterborough United - London Road. Another tidy little stadium, and the ‘new’ stand is very nice. It’s just a shame that it’s on the same side as the TV cameras so you don’t usually see it.

Queens Park Rangers - Loftus Road. Loftus Road is a strange ground, but I like that it seems to have a sense of history about it.

Reading - Madejski Stadium. Probably my favourite of the ‘new’ out of town stadiums.

Sheffield United - Bramall Lane. Similar to but probably not as nice as Hillsborough in my opinion.

Sheffield Wednesday - Hillsborough. Similar to and probably nicer than Bramall Lane in my opinion.

Southampton - The Dell. A proper old football ground, I always enjoyed going to the Dell.

Southend United - Roots Hall. I’ve visited Roots Hall a few times and it’s not a bad little ground. The view isn’t the best though.

Stoke City - Victoria Ground. I can’t remember much about the ground to be honest.

Tottenham Hotspur - White Hart Lane. One of my favourite stadiums. It’s big but not huge, generates a good atmosphere and has that sense of history I enjoy.

Tranmere Rovers - Prenton Park. If truth be told I remember very little about Prenton Park.

Watford - Vicarage Road. Vicarage Road is a truly strange ground. There are modern stands behind each goal and along the length of the pitch on one side, but the main stand looks like something oout of the 1930s. Very odd.

West Bromwich Albion - The Hawthorns. Nice stadium.

West Ham United - Upton Park. Three quarters of the ground is pretty good, but there’s still the ugly old stand which the TV cameras face. And there are some lovely turrets outside the front entrance that make the place look like Legoland.

Wolverhampton Wanderers - Molineux. Another fairly new stadium in that it was completely re-build. There’s nothing wrong with it as such, I just find it a little dull.

Other Stadiums

(The New) Wembley Stadium. Ask me on Sunday!

(The Old) Wembley Stadium. I’ve been to Wembley a few times. Twice to watch Luton play (1989 Littlewoods Cup Final versus Nottingham Forest and the 1994 FA Cup Semi Final against Chelsea), and twice to see England (against Argentina and Germany). To be honest I always felt a little let down by Wembley. The myth was always better than the fact in my opinion. I can’t wait to visit “New” Wembley though.

Millennium Stadium. I went to the Millennium Stadium for the Play-Off final in 2002 against Birmingham City. It’s without doubt the finest stadium I have ever visited, and put (Old) Wembley to shame.

Twickenham. Ok I’ve not been there for football, but I went to watch the Bedford Blues play in the Powergen Trophy final a couple of years ago. Another great stadium that put (Old) Wembley to shame.