Favourite stadiums

[nonactionable]

Which are yours?

[Salop]

Which are yours?

Gay Meadow, home of Shrewsbury Town FC of course. All other stadiums are shite.

Seriously, though, Old Trafford is quite impressive but lacking on atmosphere. Anfield is a bit of a shitehole but has a good atmosphere. Craven Cottage is dope but has NO atmosphere whatsoever. St Andrew's is a good ground, great atmosphere too. Ditto The Hawthorns. Big fan of Whaddon Road (Cheltenham Town) - it's a pretty ropey ground but is a great place to visit for an away game. Nene Park (Rushden & Diamonds) has the nicest toilets of any football ground ever. Estadio da Luz is awesome. Bridgnorth Town's ground (Crown Meadow I think?) for novelty value. It has a beer "tent", only one stand and backs on to a row of people's back gardens.

Can't think of any others I particularly like but special mentions for those I hate:

Chester City - Deva Stadium, AFC Telford United - The New Buck's Head. Practically identical, soulless, plastikit, subbeuteo grounds. Macclesfield Town's Moss Rose - arguably the worst ground I have ever visited: there's no fence at the back of the away end, one of the stands has temporary seating (like those canvas seats you see at country shows), the home end has the front half seated and people stood at the back. Absolute shithole.

[dustcowpoke]

I have to admit Villa Park is crap. It's run down, hopefully Lerner can put a few million in renovating it. St. Andrews has good atmosphere (even though we are louder than them at their own ground), and the Hawthorns is just complete rubbish.

[Salop]

I have to admit Villa Park is crap. It's run down, hopefully Lerner can put a few million in renovating it. St. Andrews has good atmosphere (even though we are louder than them at their own ground), and the Hawthorns is just complete rubbish.

Unbiased opinion there, mate. I'd expect nothing less from a Villa fan.

[ToonUSA]

I have to admit Villa Park is crap. It's run down, hopefully Lerner can put a few million in renovating it. St. Andrews has good atmosphere (even though we are louder than them at their own ground), and the Hawthorns is just complete rubbish.
So you jump ship and then bag on your former team?

That's touching.

[dustcowpoke]

So you jump ship and then bag on your former team?

That's touching.
Nah man I've always supported the Dynamo.

[ToonUSA]

Nah man I've always supported the Dynamo.

Ah, how quickly you abandoned the Blues. Was it one season or 2 before you said kiss off to them?

[Colm]

Anyways

White Hart Lane (i'm baised)
Goodison Park (proper football ground with great fans)
Reebok Stadiam (good stadiam with good atmosphere)
St James park (big and fans are pretty loud)
Anfield (fanstastic on a european night)
Old Trafford (great stadium to visit and the atmosphere was good when i visited it a couple of months ago)

[act smiley]

I miss Filbert Street :(
Ninian Park is the awesome kind of crap.
Not too much a fan of the cloned ones, even though they're rather a bit nicer places to be, though - it just doesn't have the charm.

[SpudUK]

My local team of Gillingham FC has a great pitch surface, and the atmosphere is usually great. Gets a bit heated when teams like Millwall visit, but who doesn't hate Millwall?

[RichardL]

London Road, Peterborough. Not great to look at, being the kind of generic third division ground drawn by roy of the rovers artists, but it has a 4000 place covered away end terrace, which is fantastic.

I used to quite like Blackpool's bloomfield road, before it got knocked down and (semi) rebuilt. It had character. It looked so old that you imagined it being made from wattle and daub, or perhaps half-timbered when redeveloped. It had a ridiculously huge end terrace as well. It also helps I suppose, that the three games I've seen there are Blackpool 2 Reading 4, Blackpool 0 Reading 4 and Blackpool 0 Reading 2.

[Bluto11]

i've been to three, and i'm biased as hell.

Highbury
Reebok Stadium
Loftus Road

The Reebok was dead when I went. 10,000 people for an FA Cup match with 20 quid tickets. oh well. QPR was a lot of fun, loved the ground, but again must have been an off night. Not that crowded and the home supporters made almost no noise, aside from "Come on you RRRRRRRRRRs". I heard more from the 12 year olds behind me then I did from any other person there.

[Mad2Ad]

I miss Filbert Street :(
Ninian Park is the awesome kind of crap.
Not too much a fan of the cloned ones, even though they're rather a bit nicer places to be, though - it just doesn't have the charm.


yeah the double decker stand created such an atmosphere.

[Foreigner]

Vicarage road
Stamford bridge

they are both ugly but i like them don't ask me why

[JackBastard]

London Road, Peterborough. Not great to look at, being the kind of generic third division ground drawn by roy of the rovers artists, but it has a 4000 place covered away end terrace, which is fantastic.

We came from 2-0 down to win 3-2 there in our third division championship season, and I couldn't agree with you more. They put us in the stand last time we went there though :(.

Love Shrewsbury's ground, the away end in particular, but that may be helped by the fact that we always take a decent support up there (although we don't ever win!). Ninian Park, Griffin Park and York Street are all good too, may have something to do with the fact that they all have excellent away ends too! Not too keen on the new grounds, but I do quite like Huddersfied's as it's a bit different.

The Vetch was excellent before we left, and likewise Leeds Road was one of my favourites although I only went there once and can't remember much of it, just know by looking at pictures that I'd have loved it.

Grounds I hate? Northampton, Chester, Kidderminster etc. etc. are even worse than the stupid bowl stadia everyone has these days.

[Salop]

We came from 2-0 down to win 3-2 there in our third division championship season, and I couldn't agree with you more. They put us in the stand last time we went there though :(.

Love Shrewsbury's ground, the away end in particular, but that may be helped by the fact that we always take a decent support up there (although we don't ever win!). Ninian Park, Griffin Park and York Street are all good too, may have something to do with the fact that they all have excellent away ends too! Not too keen on the new grounds, but I do quite like Huddersfied's as it's a bit different.

The Vetch was excellent before we left, and likewise Leeds Road was one of my favourites although I only went there once and can't remember much of it, just know by looking at pictures that I'd have loved it.

Grounds I hate? Northampton, Chester, Kidderminster etc. etc. are even worse than the stupid bowl stadia everyone has these days.


Good to hear it, mate. I'm also a big fan of your visits as well both in terms of results and atmosphere. The communal "We hate Cardiff more than you" song is always a good laugh. Do you remember one year (around 97/98 season I think) your fans forming a conga around the away end towards the end of game?

Sadly, Gay Meadow's making its final bow this season so the next time you come to Shrewsbury it'll be to our new plastikit DIY soulless all seater ground.

My only memory of the Vetch is going there on a Tuesday night with about 40 other Town fans when we were right at the foot of Div 3 and you were getting promoted. Simon Sturridge scored two for us as we pulled a much needed point out of the bag. I remember the home fans end looking like it was absolutely rammed though, great atmosphere.

[JackBastard]

Good to hear it, mate. I'm also a big fan of your visits as well both in terms of results and atmosphere. The communal "We hate Cardiff more than you" song is always a good laugh. Do you remember one year (around 97/98 season I think) your fans forming a conga around the away end towards the end of game?

If we won 1-0 and Jonathan Coates scored then you got the year right, but I wasn't there, only started going away regularly around '99.

I don't think we've scored at the Meadow since that game actually? All I can remember is losing there and one 0-0 draw in the year you went down to the Conference.

Sadly our last visit wasn't the best for us though, two players sent off and plenty of ours trying to get through the fence onto the Riverside (is that what it's called?) terrace, as well as loads of arrests before the game.

Sadly, Gay Meadow's making its final bow this season so the next time you come to Shrewsbury it'll be to our new plastikit DIY soulless all seater ground.

I knew it was going but didn't realise it was so soon. Sadly it's happening everywhere these days.

My only memory of the Vetch is going there on a Tuesday night with about 40 other Town fans when we were right at the foot of Div 3 and you were getting promoted. Simon Sturridge scored two for us as we pulled a much needed point out of the bag. I remember the home fans end looking like it was absolutely rammed though, great atmosphere.

I can remember two 1-1 draws against you in 99 and 2000, one on a Friday and I think the other on a Tuesday. Probably the 2000 season, as we only made the playoffs the year before and crowds were higher the following season.

[RichardL]

The Vetch was excellent before we left,

the Vetch had a decent covered away end which wasn't bad for atmosphere. I went there a few times. Two that stick out were a 6-1 win there where Swansea were actually the better side for about 45 minutes, and a 1-1 draw that didn't see most Reading fans arrive until 30 minutes before the end, due to a crash near the severn bridge. Luckily the team just killed time until we got there and didn't score unitl we were in.


and likewise Leeds Road was one of my favourites although I only went there once and can't remember much of it, just know by looking at pictures that I'd have loved it.

I think it would have been a great ground when full, alas I never saw more than about 5000 there, and the fans rattled around like peas in a skip. The away end was perhaps the coldest place in the universe, with a wind that constantly drove into your face. I'd never seen it rain uphill until I went to Leeds Road.


Grounds I hate? Northampton.
it's not an inspiring place, but I take it you never went to their old ground. It only had two and a half sides. They shared with Northampton Country Cricket Club so there was about 200 yards of grass beyond the far touchline. Behind one corner was a bowling green, so the terrace at that end only went as far as the far six yard box. The back half of that uncovered terrace was fenced off for safety reasons. There was a reasonable but small covered home terrace, but the main stand was the icing on the cake. Pre-1985 it was probably decent enough, with seats behind a paddock of terracing, but both the roof and all of the seats were condemned. The roof was removed and the seats covered with iron sheeting. With no other seats in the ground, the only opton was to build a temporary stand in the middle of the paddock. The "Meccano" stand, as it became to be known, looked like it had been built for £17.99, seated about 500, and due to its position, blocked the view of about 2000.

Of all the grounds left in recent years, I'd safely bet fewest tears were shed at the county ground.

[leg_breaker]

I hate all these new grounds. They're all the same. Bland, plastic and soul-destroying, usually in the middle of nowhere. Football is now a consumer product.

[Dead Penguin]

Of all the grounds left in recent years, I'd safely bet fewest tears were shed at the county ground.

Yes, trying to ground share with a football and cricket club was dire for both parties, I was at the County Ground last year visiting one of the conference rooms that is now attached to the stadium, and the improvements to the ground now that they only have to cater for cricket have been dramatic.