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old ground or new ground

Having completed the 92 this week I have been thinking about some of the old venues which did not survive and make it to my final list and see how others felt the old venues compared to the new ones .

There were some like Doncaster,Hull,Stoke,Walsall and Wigan where I never got to the old ground and I would be interested in other people's view .

Previously I had always thought I would always go for the old ground against a new ground,but my purely personal view surprised me in some instances.

Arsenal Old ground Highbury was one of the iconic old stadiums although I do like the Emirates.
Bolton Old ground,before the supermarket was built on half of the away end
Brighton New ground. Really enjoyed Falmer which is a massive upgrade on both the Goldstone and Withdean
Bristol Rovers New ground never went to Eastville but I thought the Memorial Ground was better than Twerton Park
Cardiff New ground I liked Ninian Park,although the atmosphere the other night has probably swayed me.
Chesterfield Old ground one of Saltergate's last acts was to 'play' the Baseball Ground in the film Damned United,the B2net although pleasant did not have much character.
Colchester New ground.Although quite uninteresting the Community Stadium is better than Layer Road which was possibly the worst league ground I ever visited.
Coventry New ground.Very impressed with the Ricoh, excellent Casino bar next door.Highfield Road seemed quite functional although was better located for the railway.
Derby Old ground The Baseball Ground was a classic old football ground and unique,I like Pride Park but not as much.
Huddersfield Old ground liked Leeds road although the new stadium was good
Leicester Old ground probably because the Kings Power Stadium is so similar to Derby and Southampton
MK Dons New ground another example where I liked neither,but the Hockey Stadium was particularly bad.
Manchester City New ground I surprise myself here ,but I think the City of Manchester Stadium edges it.
Middlesbrough Old ground,the 66 connnection wins it for Ayresome Park
Spanners Old ground.The Toolbox is quite bland and uninteresting,the Old Den at least had character.
Northampton New ground , the cricket ground never worked as a football venue for me,Sixfields is a smart modern stadium.
Oxford New ground although three sided I liked the Kassam better than the Manor which was quite ramshackle.Plus every time I went we always got stuffed there.
Reading New ground,it would be very difficult to put Elm Park which was pleasant but quite boring above the Mad Stad.
Rotherham New ground , unlike a lot of the new grounds the New York Stadium is in the town centre and quite distinctive,Millmoor always felt like a northern version of the old Den with its scrap yards and railway sidings.
Shrewsbury Old ground,the town setting and River Severn made this a favourite away trip of mine back in the day
Southampton Old ground , the Dell was unique although much too small for the modern era
Sunderland Old ground .Like Middlesbrough Roker's place as a 66 World Cup ground swings it for me.
Swansea Old ground ,the Vetch was quite distinctive and had charm.
Wimbledon Old ground Kingstonian's ground is essentially a Conference venue, a bit like the old Den,Plough Lane at least had character.
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Comments

  • nice post .. how long did your 'research' take ?
  • Interesting.

    What about also comparing old and new versions of the same ground, like old Valley v New Valley, or old Oakwell v new Oakwell, etc?
  • Blimey, do you spend all your time and money going around football grounds?
  • now youre just showing off Richard j.

    ;~)
  • Richard great post the min I read the title I thought of elm park and roker park

    2 grounds I loved going to the were shite holes but the tradition running through them was amazing you could feel the age and history

    I seem surprised you chose the mad stad over the elm park


  • Used to love trips to Maine Road and Shrewsbury's Gay Meadow. Genuinely sad they no longer exist. And two very contrasting match day experiences.
    I got to Hull and Stoke's old grounds only- not bothered with many new ones actually. I have clearer memories of Stoke (a freezing cold 0-0), than Hull (1-1, Flanagan late equaliser) probably because Stoke's Victoria Ground used to get on tv a fair bit more.
  • The old grounds are much better redeveloped than moved away from altogether
  • Went to Belle vue,Doncaster Rovers october 1997, Home game against Hartlepool United.

    The ground was basically in a state and the toilets were awfull. 3 parts of the ground were open, 1 of the ends behind the goal i seem to remember was grass so not in use, i was on the terrace stand opposite the main stand.

    Good job they moved. Probably in the top 5 of worst grounds in the league at the time.They were bottom of the league after 10 games with only 3 points,all draws.

    Went to park view road,Wigan Athletic March 1997, Home game against Cambridge United.

    £9.00 To sit in the main stand, wooden structure with restricted view, rest of the ground was terracing, home and away fans switched ends at half time,nice pies and a Wigan home win.

    Went to Fellows park Wallsall Vs Charlton August 1972/73, wallsall won 3-2, was your average ground for that era, nothing special. Can't remember tto much, if any one on here went did the players come out from the corner of the main stand?, also think behind one of the goals was a railway siding.

    Went to Brittania stadium,Charlton Vs Stoke 1998 we won 2-1 and stoke manager was Chris Kamara, small crowd , haven't been to the new one so can't compare
  • Interesting comments. However I completely disagree about Colchester! Although it was tiny and decrepit I liked their little old ground! Had character and a good atmos there when we drew 2-2. Shitloads of pubs between the ground and the station as well. In contrast I hated their new soulless half empty place by the dual carriageway. Nightmare of a football ground for me.
  • Used to love trips to Maine Road and Shrewsbury's Gay Meadow. Genuinely sad they no longer exist. And two very contrasting match day experiences.
    I got to Hull and Stoke's old grounds only- not bothered with many new ones actually. I have clearer memories of Stoke (a freezing cold 0-0), than Hull (1-1, Flanagan late equaliser) probably because Stoke's Victoria Ground used to get on tv a fair bit more.

    Nostalgia is not what it was .. most Hull followers I know wouldn't swap the KC for Boothferry Park. Look at the recent success for Brighton, Cardiff, Rotherham, Chesterfield (all I can think of a t m) after recent moves to new stadia. Many of the old grounds might have been alright for the occasional visit .. but week in week out ? .. most fans I know and come across prefer the newer, more comfortable stadia with good viewing lines, no pillars in the way and roofs that don't usually leak
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  • Not me I yearn for the good old grounds of broken decrepit football stadia

    I loved going to scunny when we first came down and bringing my boy there to show him the difference of real football to the emirates
  • Not me I yearn for the good old grounds of broken decrepit football stadia

    I loved going to scunny when we first came down and bringing my boy there to show him the difference of real football to the emirates

    that is my point .. OK for a visit once a year but who wants to watch football every other week in a ramshackle dump .. mind you, Palace fans have been doing it for years (I am guessing, as I have not been to Selhurst for quite a while)
  • It hasn't changed since 95 Lincs.

    Great thread!
  • It hasn't changed since 95 Lincs.

    Great thread!

    lol .. Selhurst Park eh .. it's easier to find the lost temple of Montezuma
  • I used to love going to Filbert Street as old grounds go.
  • I used to love going to Filbert Street as old grounds go.

    Was a nice old ground.
  • Used to love trips to Maine Road and Shrewsbury's Gay Meadow. Genuinely sad they no longer exist. And two very contrasting match day experiences.
    I got to Hull and Stoke's old grounds only- not bothered with many new ones actually. I have clearer memories of Stoke (a freezing cold 0-0), than Hull (1-1, Flanagan late equaliser) probably because Stoke's Victoria Ground used to get on tv a fair bit more.

    I bet you did ;-)
  • Boothferry Park by the end was a hole. No comparison with the KC Stadium which is more central to the city centre as well.
  • This was a purely personal choice and it is the games I saw there which I'm sure affected how I saw in some of the grounds.

    To answer NLA I liked Elm Park, but felt the vastness of the Mad Stad gave it the edge.I know in part this is a contradiction because I picked the Dell above St Marys.

    In terms of Layer Road, my negativity is probably because of an extremely wet day in 80/81 when our promotion push was hampered by Colchester. Another example again of my inconsistency.I am sure I would always choose Underhill (which hosted its last game yesterday) over any other Barnet ground partly influenced by the classic 5-3 win I saw for Welling United on my first visit there.

    I also think I choose the City of Manchester over Maine Road partly because I was treated to hospitality there.
  • No sure what your criterea is for choosing a new ground over an old, but looking at your list I would generally go for the old ground more than 50% of the time, mainly due to the location and or parking.

    Most new grounds that I have been to (Brighton, Colchester, Middleborough,Coventry, Leicester, Man City, Southanpton & Sunderland) are all "out of towners" or "park & ride" and are a nitemare to get & out of. Colchester being the obvious one. It was easy to park near Layer rd and usually only a 5min walk to the ground. Their new stadium, even having less than 10,000 fans in it , takes ages to get out of and is miles from the station, pubs etc. - M'boro is the same -anyone going next week expect a long walk to the middle of nowhere.

    I agree that the new stadiums look better, have better facilities and better viewing - I just wish the most weren't built 5 mins out of town with just one access rd in & out.
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  • Depends what you go for I spose I don't go for the view or the facilities and most of my fav grounds would be down to the atmosphere the day out and the match day as a whole from morning till night

    Elm park although in the middle of some of the most violent scenes I have witnessed in a Charlton day out is one of my fav old grounds

    Same as roker park I mean if the noggin serves me right that was a pile but wow A stadium full of tradition and history and atmosphere I loved it

    Wembley the same a shit hole of the finest shit holes but I loved it the seating the appalling facilities

    Even the old den you must admit it matched the team in it it was an intimidating and horrible old place but it was real

    The thing with new grounds they are sterile and soulless and all seem to have come from the same mechano kit

    I would rather piss in a guttering in the floor like elm park than the standard toilets in the mad stad

    I would rather eat a proper pie from the Tin hut in scunny

    Than a pie in the emirates

    I would rather watch the game getting peed on in the open end at Yeovil

    Than under cover at the stadium of light

  • "Yeovil in the rain", oh yes.

  • Agree with most of what NLA says above. How things have moved on and the chief drivers have perhaps been money and surveillance- not purely advances in materials or architecture or design techniques. Simplifying greatly here i know but prices have risen astronomically. All seaters have meant ticketing schemes have become easier, and policing is easier too. The justification may be improved comfort, but atmosphere (and specifically loss of atmosphere) is never a selling point. Coupled with the rise of the car over public transport this past 20-30 years we end up with souless shells for grounds in the middle of nowhere.

  • I’m also off to Spurs’ new ground for the first time tomorrow.
  • The Vetch Field was a weird ground when I visited late 80s early 90s.
    it was though they had started to try to improve/modernise parts of the ground but each separate project ran out of money leaving what seemed quite modern (for the time) parts that stopped dead next to old sheds.
  • Ticked off the new Brentford ground last night. Frustrating queuing issues, missed first 15 mins despite getting there 30 mins before kick-off. Nice ground and signifies Brentford's transformation into a PL club from where they were 15 years ago but still preferred Griffin Park.


  • LouisMend said:
    Ticked off the new Brentford ground last night. Frustrating queuing issues, missed first 15 mins despite getting there 30 mins before kick-off. Nice ground and signifies Brentford's transformation into a PL club from where they were 15 years ago but still preferred Griffin Park.


    Looks like you were sat near where I was . Your review is much more generous than mine . I felt it was very generic apart from the different colours on some of the seats .

    Some of my perspective is based around the stewarding . I got sent the wrong way a couple of times . How are they going to cope with massive attendances ? 

    Like a lot of new builds there only seemed to be one way in (and out) .
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