Worcester. I went there to watch my brother play and the fans were spitting at the opposition by the tunnel...and thats at Ryman League level!!
I was with my old man, there was no old bill and we had about 30 other Sittingbourne supporters there. Not nice i can tell ya!
Kenilworth road has got to be up there. How they were in the top flight with that ground is beyond me. Scunthorpe was pretty poor as well. Oxford's Manor ground had about 15 different stands as well.
Are we talking in terms of atmosphere or in terms of facilities?
Criteria being whatever you look for in a stadium, so that can be atmosphere, facilities or a combination of the two or anything else you can think of.
The old Dell at Southampton was a poxy ground interms of facilities and being stuck in the corner behind a great big fence before the all-seater days. Saying that though it had a bloody good atmosphere at times!!
Old Den - arrive late, get stuck up behind the floodlight pylon.
Kenilworth Road - arrive late, get stuck up that alley between the houses at the back.
Gigg Lane - Didn't get there till half time - ground far further from trams than map suggests, not helped be some b'stard copper who sent me the wrong way. Luckily, was escorted by a friendly Bury fan who was also late.
Selhurst - can never find the bugger.
On a similar note, I really like Vicarage Road but that trek around the allotments is a bummer.
From the Dell - that wedge shaped stand.
From Keniworth - that really narrow stand along the side with the nets on top.
From The Manor Ground - the stand along the side that was built in five sections, all completely different.
From either Layer Road or the Abbey - an empty space behind one end.
Put those together and you'd win awards for bad architecture.
Going back to what someone said earlier about the older grounds being better than all the new replica grounds I agree 100%. Some of the old ones were short on comfort and facilities but back then you didn`t go to football to sit down in the warm and dry, you went there for the crack and the atmosphere which was there in abundance at most places and to have a "surge" when or if you scored a goal!! If you ended up in a covered end at an away game, all the better.
I think Colchester's takes some beating, not only is it soulless and devoid of any sort of character but it has possibly the worst transport links of any of the new grounds, perhaps bar The Emirates. Coventry's is bad too but at Colchester last season it took as much as an hour to get out of the car park after the game, understandable had there been 60,000 at the game but not when less than 6,000 turned up. One road in, one road out and miles away from any train station, it beggars belief how planning permissions are granted in this day and age when little or no consideration is given to the process of getting fans in and out of the stadium as efficiently as possible.
Drove past Colchester last week and they are putting slip roads in that go straight onto the A12 from the car park. Saying that though at leas the old Layer Road had some character.
always liked old grounds, atmosphere always better - but then I guess terracing had alot to do with that...only one I really hated was Highbury.
Most 'new' grounds are almost carbon copies of each other, the emirates is a nice stadium (as as most of them), just in general they are completely 'souless'.
Give me a Villa Park / Hillsborough / Anfield / Upton Park any day.
Agree with the above that Colchester's new one is one of the worst, if only for it's location and accessability.
As for the worst....Pompey or Swindon, purely for the 'open air' away ends (I know Pompey's is now covered)
The slip roads to Colchester's ground will certainly help but, as someone who lives in the town, I have to say that the set up in the first couple of years of the new stadium have been shocking. The fact that there are a few (and I mean very few) signs from the town guiding you to the stadium (I presume home fans would know where it is), there are none at all from the A12 where the majority of away fans would come from!!!
Presumably that little decision made sense to someone at the time, but I have to say I am struggling to understand it.
Despite the result last season ,I quite liked new Colchester , it was an improvement on Layer Road, which would get my vote as the worst ground.
In the main I liked the old grounds better but IMHO other improvements are Northampton, Oxford and Reading.Northampton played on the County Cricket Ground and was three sided and I actually quite liked Six Fields in comparison . The Manor was another dump and although the new ground is only three sided I felt it was an improvement.Elm Park was non descript and boring and the Mad Stad is bigger and could generate a better atmosphere.
Unfortunatly , I'm not able to go tonight now but I can't believe the Shrews can improve upon Gay Meadow which was one of my favourite old grounds ,mainly due to its excellant location.
Layer road was probably the worst, Oxfords manor not far behind, although that had some athmosphere. The first season I followed CAFC away regularly (outside of London games) was 1980/1, many of the grounds in the 3rd division that year seemed to be in a bit of a mess, although each had it's own identity, something that's in danger of getting lost nowadays.
Tilbury. Never ever like going there. Slap bang next to a travellers' site, the players tunnel is a cage and the changing room is utterly tiny. Oh yeah and you always get some old bag walking around just hurling abuse at you even when the ball is nowhere near. Horrid place...
Comments
I was with my old man, there was no old bill and we had about 30 other Sittingbourne supporters there. Not nice i can tell ya!
Give me a wooden seat at selhurst or a police lock in at the den over these any day please.
Everything that football grounds, and football shouldn't be about.
Can't argue with those Pilch....although the away end facilities at Fratton Park were appalling on our last couple of visits.
Kenilworth Rd
Layer road
Scunthorpe was pretty poor as well.
Oxford's Manor ground had about 15 different stands as well.
Are we talking in terms of atmosphere or in terms of facilities?
Old Den - arrive late, get stuck up behind the floodlight pylon.
Kenilworth Road - arrive late, get stuck up that alley between the houses at the back.
Gigg Lane - Didn't get there till half time - ground far further from trams than map suggests, not helped be some b'stard copper who sent me the wrong way. Luckily, was escorted by a friendly Bury fan who was also late.
Selhurst - can never find the bugger.
On a similar note, I really like Vicarage Road but that trek around the allotments is a bummer.
From the Dell - that wedge shaped stand.
From Keniworth - that really narrow stand along the side with the nets on top.
From The Manor Ground - the stand along the side that was built in five sections, all completely different.
From either Layer Road or the Abbey - an empty space behind one end.
Put those together and you'd win awards for bad architecture.
ha that is a shocker of a ground. Plus we got spanked there.
Most 'new' grounds are almost carbon copies of each other, the emirates is a nice stadium (as as most of them), just in general they are completely 'souless'.
Give me a Villa Park / Hillsborough / Anfield / Upton Park any day.
Agree with the above that Colchester's new one is one of the worst, if only for it's location and accessability.
As for the worst....Pompey or Swindon, purely for the 'open air' away ends (I know Pompey's is now covered)
Presumably that little decision made sense to someone at the time, but I have to say I am struggling to understand it.
In the main I liked the old grounds better but IMHO other improvements are Northampton, Oxford and Reading.Northampton played on the County Cricket Ground and was three sided and I actually quite liked Six Fields in comparison . The Manor was another dump and although the new ground is only three sided I felt it was an improvement.Elm Park was non descript and boring and the Mad Stad is bigger and could generate a better atmosphere.
Unfortunatly , I'm not able to go tonight now but I can't believe the Shrews can improve upon Gay Meadow which was one of my favourite old grounds ,mainly due to its excellant location.