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The joy of seeing a football stadium for the first time

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    The joy of seeing a football stadium for the first time

    This is a very lovely piece by Daniel Gray (from a new book he has collaborated on) whose work has been appreciated on here by others before, I think.

    I pondered putting it in the Scottish Fitba thread but decided it's theme is universal and deserves a thread of it's own ;

    "What corners they are to turn, your visit stacked with a double-joy: that rush of a first glimpse, and then these grounds’ own unique beauty. In their company, a normal streetscape becomes treasured and surreal. A street’s name has so much more meaning. They enrich the tarmac as nothing else can."
    Last edited by Ray de Galles; 02-10-2020, 12:56.

    #2
    Some great photos and some good memories for me.

    I once pretended to visit relatives in Dundee while really going to Partick Thistle/Motherwell to get out of an in-laws invasion over Christmas. Serves me right that the game was shite.

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      #3
      To my shame, I've only been to eight Scottish grounds but generally loved them and plan to do a lot more more. I still have a yen to retire there relatively soon when a) it achieves independence b) my last child has left home/gone to uni c) I've run out of grounds in south-east England

      I'll happily spend my time groundhopping, watching domestic Scottish rugby and Glasgow Tigers speedway team (who have the best track I've ever been to, which I could possibly count as a ninth Scottish ground visited as Ashfield play there) amongst other things.
      Last edited by Ray de Galles; 02-10-2020, 13:25.

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        #4
        I remember the experience being overpowering as a kid, when a stadium looked huge from a child's eye view. Then there's the feeling of "how the fuck were they able to put a stadium there?" when you visited a ground that seemed to be in the middle of a block of terrace housing, or by the side of a river.

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          #5
          Daniel Gray is a lovely writer.

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            #6
            Originally posted by Ray de Galles View Post
            This is a very lovely piece by Daniel Gray (from a new book he has collaborated on) whose work has been appreciated on here by others before, I think.

            I pondered putting it in the Scottish Fitba thread but decided it's theme is universal and deserves a thread of it's own ;

            "What corners they are to turn, your visit stacked with a double-joy: that rush of a first glimpse, and then these grounds’ own unique beauty. In their company, a normal streetscape becomes treasured and surreal. A street’s name has so much more meaning. They enrich the tarmac as nothing else can."
            I went to Raith-Dunfermline in November 2012 while up in Scotland for a family party, after asking for recommendations for a game to go to on here. Stark's Park was, is. stunning, and it remains one of the best atmospheres I've ever been part of.

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              #7
              Coincidentally, I was in Dundee earlier this week and went to visit my nephew's partners new business premises - as we swung round the corner I had almost the exact same view of Tannadice as the one shown in the article. As soon as we get back to normal, a return visit to take in a match at one or both Dundee grounds will be scheduled.

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                #8
                For me it’s still the most exhilarating feeling I get whenever I visit a new ground. From the planning of the trip to the actual game that all round feel has never dissipated.

                It was maybe a little different in the 70s and 80s when you often wondered whether you would ever see your family and friends again but even getting back home had a certain euphoria about it.

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                  #9
                  That front cover pic is on Eriskay in the Outer Hebrides and I took exactly the same picture on my island hopping holiday two years ago. It's a fabulous part of the world. I've only watched games at Tynecastle and Hampden Park and walked around Easter Road, but have got approval from 'er indoors to tick off a further unlimited number over time.

                  I love planning a day or weekend around a town and a game and then actually visiting somewhere that I've heard and read so much about - be it on TV, in Simon Inglis's books or in the papers. It does feel as though I experience that initial interaction with the ground through my 11-year-old eyes, even though a lot of stands and grounds have been replaced. I can't wait to visit Stranraer. I blame Phoenix Nights for that.

                  It does make me wonder what groundhopping was like in the 70's and 80's as a 40-year-old neutral...

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                    #10
                    I wasn't sure whether or not to start a new thread for our own examples of the joy described by Mr Gray but I've gone with adding my first contribution here. To say it doesn't do the feeling justice is to put it mildly.

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                      #11
                      My partner is more or less used by now by my apparently irrational wish to see the football stadium in whichever town we are visiting for the first time even though no match is taking place on rhat day.
                      Last edited by Sporting; 04-10-2020, 13:28.

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                        #12
                        I'm sorry that we don't really have one.

                        For myself as well, of course.

                        Though you would have enjoyed Metropolitan Oval had you more time.

                        https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metropolitan_Oval

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                          #13
                          Originally posted by ursus arctos View Post
                          I'm sorry that we don't really have one.

                          For myself as well, of course.

                          Though you would have enjoyed Metropolitan Oval had you more time.

                          https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metropolitan_Oval
                          Maybe New York City will get their own stadum one day:

                          "In April 2018, new plans for the Harlem River Yards development in the south Bronx were revealed, for the land north of the Willis Avenue Bridge; the area would be anchored by the new stadium of 26,000 seats, which would be designed by Rafael Vi?oly. On April 25, 2018, it was reported by club president Jon Patricof that the club is focusing on other sites more seriously than Harlem Yards. "We submitted something to the State [of New York] as part of a request for expressions of interest," said Patricof about the Harlem River Yards site. "But that's it. That site is not an active site."

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                            #14
                            That project was seen as highly speculative pre-pandemic. The chances of it coming to fruition post crisis are small.

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                              #15
                              Originally posted by Sporting View Post
                              My partner is more or less used by now by my apparently irrational wish to see the football stadium in whichever town we are visiting for the first time even though no match is taking place on rhat day.
                              I'm always a bit sad when I'm by or in a ground and there's no game on. It seems such a waste. I'm sometimes in one for a work reason and it just feels like I'm being taunted.The worst was being in a car from the airport in Istanbul to a work thing and passing a crowd going in to Beskitas's ground, it was torture.

                              It's part of the reason that I've never really gone for a stadium tour, in any sport. Though that doesn't stop me visiting plenty of dormant grounds when we've had Mediterranean holidays nearby too early for the season to have started. Though that's normally in the Fruitless hope I'll discover some obscure, unpublicised pre-season friendly.

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                                #16
                                Originally posted by Satchmo Distel View Post
                                I remember the experience being overpowering as a kid, when a stadium looked huge from a child's eye view. Then there's the feeling of "how the fuck were they able to put a stadium there?" when you visited a ground that seemed to be in the middle of a block of terrace housing, or by the side of a river.
                                After a Trophy match at Barnsley a few years ago, my friends and I decided that every football match until the end of time should be played in Oakwell on an autumn midweek evening. That view as you crest the rise on one of those terraced side streets and the ground emerges, glowing at the bottom of the hill, is utterly magical. That was one of the very rare occasions in my cynical adult life where I've really had that "seeing the ground" buzz (and it wasn't even a new ground for me on that visit). All four of us let out a little appreciative gasp.

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                                  #17
                                  Yes, it's perfect for two kids arriving on the bus with their mam, then doing the walk in a crowd of several thousand.

                                  I then lived in York in the 90s and would do the walk from the train station.
                                  Last edited by Satchmo Distel; 05-10-2020, 19:32.

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                                    #18
                                    That's Dad's Christmas present sorted so.

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                                      #19
                                      You're becoming Irish.

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                                        #20
                                        Originally posted by Giggler View Post

                                        I went to Raith-Dunfermline in November 2012 while up in Scotland for a family party, after asking for recommendations for a game to go to on here. Stark's Park was, is. stunning, and it remains one of the best atmospheres I've ever been part of.
                                        Stark's Park is one of the two grounds I've been to in Scotland. The other being East End Park (Dunfermline). Not seen the derby though.

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                                          #21
                                          East end park is a great ground. The lack of gales blowing in from the sea ala Starks Park is a bonus to.

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                                            #22
                                            My mate (a Raith fan) lives a few minutes' walk away from East End Park. It was a terrible game we saw, mind.

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                                              #23
                                              Originally posted by Jobi1 View Post

                                              After a Trophy match at Barnsley a few years ago, my friends and I decided that every football match until the end of time should be played in Oakwell on an autumn midweek evening. That view as you crest the rise on one of those terraced side streets and the ground emerges, glowing at the bottom of the hill, is utterly magical. That was one of the very rare occasions in my cynical adult life where I've really had that "seeing the ground" buzz (and it wasn't even a new ground for me on that visit). All four of us let out a little appreciative gasp.
                                              Thanks for that! I've never really pictured Oakwell in that way before. (We generally approach from over the fields behind the away end.)

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                                                #24
                                                I've always approached and left not wanting to get attacked. Not always successfully...

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                                                  #25
                                                  I chanced across this just now. It looks like Barnsley v Tranmere in 1968-9 though it's not captioned. There's a couple of nice views of the hills as well as the Barnsley Bitter sign on the stand roof. edit: looks like you can't post videos without it showing the whole thing. It starts at about four and a half minutes.



                                                  If you keep watching there's some rare footage of Bradford Park Avenue.
                                                  Last edited by Capybara; 08-10-2020, 09:30.

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