In his book on English football grounds, Simon Inglis describes Brunton Park in Carlisle as “A frontier post guarded only by sheep”. From the main stand, I can, indeed, to my left see sheep grassing on the other side of…
Blog Archives
Brunton Park, Carlisle
Tagged with: Brunton Park, Carlisle United, flooding, floodlight pylons, Michael Knighton, Standing terrace, wooden seats
Posted in Football grounds, Uncategorized
Posted in Football grounds, Uncategorized
St. James Park, Exeter
Having visited Bristol Rovers, a “homeless” team on the Tuesday, I moved on to something almost just as extraordinary. Exeter City, a club saved, owned and run by a supporters’ trust. The story of the supporters’ take-over is quite remarkable.…
Tagged with: ExEC club, Exeter City, George Best, Kiera Gould, Manchester United, Michael Jackson, Pele, St. James Park, Stagecoach Stand, Supporters Trust, Uri Geller
Posted in Football grounds, Uncategorized
Posted in Football grounds, Uncategorized
Boundary Park, Oldham – or the SportsDirect.com Park
Telling people of my groundhopping project, many have adviced me to go to Boundary Park in Oldham. So being in Manchester on Good Friday, it was the obvious choice. Although some of the gloss was taken off my trip, as…
Tagged with: Boundary Park, Bristol City, groundhoppers, local support, Oldham
Posted in Football grounds
Posted in Football grounds
The County Ground, Swindon
The magic roundabout. One roundabout consisting of five roundabouts. That was what swayed me to prefer the longer trip to Swindon rather than the shorter one to Reading on a dark November evening. And to get the roundabout out of…
Tagged with: Bob Menham, Charlie Henry, County Ground, Don Rogers, John Menham, Lou Macari, Swindon Town
Posted in Football grounds, Uncategorized
Posted in Football grounds, Uncategorized
Kenilworth Road, Luton
Saturday morning in London. I come across hundreds of Arsenal supporters in their red “Emirates” shirts, on their way to an early kick-off against Manchester City. Finally, at Sct. Pancras, I also spot an orange “Easy Jet” Luton shirt. And…
Tagged with: Cheltenham, Daniel Gray, EasyJet, Hatters, Hungry Harry, Kenilworth Road, Luton Town, Oak Road End, terraced housing
Posted in Football grounds
Posted in Football grounds
Craven Cottage
What a contrast! The day after visiting the rather grim Den of Millwall from the 1990’s, I went with my son and my cousin to Fulham’s Craven Cottage. Beautifully located on the north bank of the Thames, in the…
Tagged with: Archibald Leitch, Craven Cottage, Everton, Fulham, Hammersmith End, Johnny Hayes, Michael Jackson, Mohamed Al-Fayed, Pie, Riverside Terrace, Stevenage Road
Posted in Football grounds, Uncategorized
Posted in Football grounds, Uncategorized
Emirates, London
My first match in England was Arsenal against Manchester United at Highbury 35 years ago, so it is fitting that I end this 17-match trip around English grounds with the same fixture at Arsenal’s new ground, the Emirates. Coaches for…
Tagged with: Arsenal, Emirates, Highbury, Manchester United FC, Robbie van Persie
Posted in Football grounds, Uncategorized
Posted in Football grounds, Uncategorized
Etihad stadium, Manchester
I am glad that United had secured the title before I went to the Etihad. I mean, it would have been a bit awkward to sit among City season-ticket holders and desperately want them to loose. As it was, the…
Tagged with: Etihad, Howard Webb, Manchester City, West Ham F.C.
Posted in Football grounds, Uncategorized
Posted in Football grounds, Uncategorized
King Power stadium, Leicester
What is going wrong in the Midlands? The other week I visited Wolves, who are on the brink of becoming the first ever team to drop directly from the first to the third tier of English football – twice. Monday…
Tagged with: Gordon Banks, King Power Stadium, Leicester City F.C., Watford
Posted in Football grounds, Uncategorized
Posted in Football grounds, Uncategorized
 | Zara on Loftus Road, London |
 | Lawrence on Fratton Park – an iconic… |
 | Dale Hong on The Arsenal Museum |
 | Roy Andrews on Looking for Archie part 3… |
 | David Hutton on Tannadice – what gives a… |
Football and material culture 