Ten Best and Ten Worst Stadium Moves of the New-Build Era

[Jobi1]

Arsenal and Reading's respective stadiums are very much on the wrong lists in the initial post.

The Madejski is everything that's wrong with a modern football stadium. As a piece of architecture its incredibly bland and nondescript. Location-wise situated miles from anything aside from a motorway; probably great if you're a driving journalist who arrives early and leaves after everyone else, but shit if you don't like your away days to include an hour walking down a dual carriageway.

Arsenal's stadium is both really impressive and only a couple of hefty goalkicks from Highbury. The atmosphere may be lacking at times but you can't diss a stadium on that. It'd be like slating Alexandra Palace for the pissed up costumed darts crowd it attracts.

My initial thought was that the articles were a bit confused in general. Seem to have half gone down the road of which are objectively the best/worst grounds, and half down the road of which clubs have performed best/worst since moving to a new ground. I know they've tried to qualify the lists a bit in the intros but they were probably pieces best saved for Buzzfeed or the like.

[nmrfox]

Surprised that Bournemouth didn't make the top ten as their fortunes have rocketed since they spun Dean Court around by 90 degrees. I'd also second the Deva Stadium as amongst the very worst. Sealand Road was no great shakes but it was a typical crumbling old stadium, albeit with amenities reasonably near (walking distance). The Deva is horrible and on my last visit, took around an hour to leave on the single track road from the car park.

The Ricoh is a funny one. Its an okay stadium, not unlike Derby, Reading et al (though not a patch on Huddersfield) and its location isn't as bad as Reading or Bolton. I suppose that since its been built, its very rarely been anywhere near full, which affects the atmosphere and the experience as seeing loads of empty seats is a depressing enough sight (see Stadium of Light) and what atmosphere the small crowds have made have been, quite rightly, against Sisu and not behind the team. I suppose the most depressing thing is that it seems unlikely that it will every host Coventry City again, which is criminal in my view.

And I also couldn't see the point of Portsmouth appearing in the 10 worst list as they were still at Fratton Park when I last looked.

[Ray de Galles]

Bournemouth isn't really a stadium move though and their recent success is almost solely down to financial doping.

[Snake Plissken]

I’m quite proud to say that the only time I’ll ever step foot in the MK stadium was to watch Rammstein set fire to it.

[jameswba]

Sealand Road was no great shakes but it was a typical crumbling old stadium, albeit with amenities reasonably near (walking distance). The Deva is horrible and on my last visit, took around an hour to leave on the single track road from the car park.

The Ricoh is a funny one. Its an okay stadium, not unlike Derby, Reading et al (though not a patch on Huddersfield) and its location isn't as bad as Reading or Bolton.

Sealand Road had one awful feature though - a brick-fronted main stand that was a good 15-20 yards back from the pitch, with a patch of earth/cinder in between. The covered terraces were fun at least. The site isn't much more than half a mile from where the Deva now is, but is at least nearer to town.

As for Bolton, their location does at least allow you to eat/drink in town and still be at the ground in 15 minutes or so. And the way the frontage of the ground faces you as you walk up to it, with the hills in the background, is really quite impressive.

When we went to Coventry, we were recommended a bus that took about 45 minutes to make its way to the ground via every single residential street in north Coventry. Of course, the Ricoh has a railway station that can't be used on matchdays. And when we finally got there, there was Wasps RFC branding all over the place. The taxi back to the station afterwards went straight along the main road into town but seemed to take as long as the bus had. It was all just beyond awful, and very obvious that the football club wasn't wanted in its own city.

[Jobi1]

I'd also second the Deva Stadium as amongst the very worst. Sealand Road was no great shakes but it was a typical crumbling old stadium, albeit with amenities reasonably near (walking distance). The Deva is horrible and on my last visit, took around an hour to leave on the single track road from the car park.

I went to the Deva last season for the first time in over 20 years and had forgotten what a ball-ache of an experience it is. We had the opposite issue to you – got stuck in ludicrous traffic in a taxi coming out of the city centre on the way to the game, arrived at the ground over 5 minutes after kick off to find that they'd decided the away end was full (which when we eventually got in we saw it clearly wasn't) and had locked the gates to that and opened the side stand for the remaining away fans instead, but only using one turnstile, meaning there was a queue of at least 50-60 filing in one at a time through this single gate with the game well under way. Finally made it in about 3.25pm to find no food or hot drinks left in the tiny snack bar. Definitely won't be rushing back there in a hurry.

[slackster]

Has Noton’s dull Sixfields taken a beating yet? Another one nowhere near the station, no architectural merit, and on a boring industrial estate to boot.

Wycombe’s place also ticks 2 of those miserable boxes, but at least it looks ok and has some atmosphere once inside.

But I’ll also give the worst new soulless lower league ground to Col U. Layer Road was a dump, but it had some charm.

At the PL end of things, St Mary’s is alright, I think. West Ham’s place is just awful for football, though having a bit of local knowledge means I can get in and out from the Hackney Wick side and avoid the hellish shopping centre approach.

[Patrick Thistle]

I think I'm in a minority in really quite liking Ashburton Grove.

I'm in that minority with you. I've only been twice but love it as a stadium.

[Sporting]

Athletic Bilbao and Atletico Madrid's stadium changes have by and large been positively received whereas there are many Espanyol fans who still pine for Sarria.

[slackster]

Please don’t tell me there’s any Espanyol fans pining for Montju?c, though. That was proper rubbish for football.

[Artificial Hipster]

I'm in that minority with you. I've only been twice but love it as a stadium.

I liked it too but as someone who's spent most of his footballing life in smaller stadia I'm a sucker for a dose of the spectacular every now and again. My visit was the centrepiece of an all expenses paid weekend in London for winning Fantasy Football League 10 years or so ago and my appreciation of the ground was always going to be enhanced by finding a pint and a selection of cheese and biscuits had been delivered to my table for half time.

[Sporting]

Please don’t tell me there’s any Espanyol fans pining for Montju?c, though. That was proper rubbish for football.

Agreed.

[Ray de Galles]

I liked it too but as someone who's spent most of his footballing life in smaller stadia I'm a sucker for a dose of the spectacular every now and again. My visit was the centrepiece of an all expenses paid weekend in London for winning Fantasy Football League 10 years or so ago and my appreciation of the ground was always going to be enhanced by finding a pint and a selection of cheese and biscuits had been delivered to my table for half time.

Cheese & biscuits with beer? Did that work?

You'd think Arsenal of all clubs would have given you a carafe of decent red with the cheese, especially in the Wenger era.

[Jobi1]

Wycombe's place also ticks 2 of those miserable boxes, but at least it looks ok and has some atmosphere once inside.

The thing we enjoyed most about Adams Park was watching the red kites swooping around further up that little valley the ground is set in (counted 6 in the air at one point). That also gives you some indication of the quality of the game we were watching.

[ursus arctos]

On Spain, La Real are another successful rebuild, while Valencia are a horror story of a rather different sort

Atleti's success has been somewhat surprising given the very significant geographic dislocation associated with the move, but perhaps reflects the supporters' greater ambitions.

[Sporting]

La Real are another successful rebuild

Especially since they realised that a running track was very much not needed.

Valencia are a horror story of a rather different sort

Construction now halted for nearly 12 years.

[Artificial Hipster]

Cheese & biscuits with beer? Did that work?

You'd think Arsenal of all clubs would have given you a carafe of decent red with the cheese, especially in the Wenger era.

Ha, you would wouldn't you. I regularly eat cheese and biscuits with beer but then I've never claimed to be very refined.

Arsenal of all clubs were also, so our host explained, the only one in the Premier League not to give Fantasy winners a prime spot on the halfway line. We were tucked away in a corner next to the Middlesbrough fans but this worked out just fine as they were the only ones creating any atmosphere.

[lambers]

The thing we enjoyed most about Adams Park was watching the red kites swooping around further up that little valley the ground is set in (counted 6 in the air at one point). That also gives you some indication of the quality of the game we were watching.

When I was a season ticket holder, it was a semi regular occurrence that once per game, a flock of swifts* would fly out of the rafters from one corner of the ground to the other corner and beyond. Frequently, that was the highlight of the match.


*Well, birds that looked a little like swifts, I'm not an ornithologist

[Ray de Galles]

Ha, you would wouldn't you. I regularly eat cheese and biscuits with beer but then I've never claimed to be very refined.

I mean, I don't doubt that there are beers that go very well with cheese - some fruit or wheat beers certainly would.

I just think it unlikely you're going to get offered one of them, even at Ashburton Grove, and that whatever wine you might get would be a better bet.

[Jobi1]

When I was a season ticket holder, it was a semi regular occurrence that once per game, a flock of swifts* would fly out of the rafters from one corner of the ground to the other corner and beyond. Frequently, that was the highlight of the match.


*Well, birds that looked a little like swifts, I'm not an ornithologist

One of the most entertaining aspect of matches at Hull City in the last few seasons has been when the resident hawk has captured and dismembered a pigeon up in the rafters of the stand, sending a snowstorm of feathers (and I daresay a few entrails) down onto the fans below.

Speaking of Hull, don't think they've been mentioned on this thread yet but I'd say they're well worth their place in a list of best new builds – it's not one of your identikit designs, and the wrap-around outer shell makes it feel nicely enclosed and is conducive to a great atmosphere (potentially). Also, bucking the trend of many others, it's closer to the city centre than their old ground was (helpfully meaning as an away fan you no longer have to walk past those terrifying pubs on Anlaby Road).

But again on the make-up of those lists in the original articles, given Hull's current league position and off-field issues it's hard to see why they're in the best category and Sunderland are in the worst.

[Viktor Boskovic]

The Deva Stadium is a bit of a mixed one. Similarly to Scunthorpe it is very much a product of it's time and is a think a bigger version of Stirling Albion's ground (built by the same people I think). It was done as cheap as possible by the people who bought Sealand Road as part of the deal when they bought it. Back in 1992 it was good, basically because it wasn't Macclesfield - 2 years of cross country trips to East Cheshire was horrible to experience, even more so because the Sealand Road ground was still standing throughout those 2 years. The location is terrible as it's the back of an Industrial Estate and had one road in and out. I think I have got home quicker from places like Bury than I have the Deva Stadium. Sealand Road was universally loved by Chester fans despite it's flaws and the atmosphere was loads better than the Deva Stadium. The new stand at Sealand Road was built behind the old main stand, hence the gap in front, and given how places like Spotland have changed in the last 30 years I think it could have been done up to be a good ground for it's size. I still miss it, especially the view as you came around the corner at the bottom of Sealand Road.

As I am I wheelchair user full time these days I do usually prefer new grounds as the view is usually considerably better and isn't always stuck out in the rain. Gay Meadow was unique but Shrewsbury is the best new away ground I have visited for facilities and view - if all grounds were like this I would still go to loads of away matches!

[Southport Zeb]

The thing we enjoyed most about Adams Park was watching the red kites swooping around further up that little valley the ground is set in (counted 6 in the air at one point). That also gives you some indication of the quality of the game we were watching.

When I went to nearby Flackwell Heath a few years ago I was waiting for half expecting one to swoop down to pick off an unsuspecting winger.

[Bizarre Löw Triangle]

I pretty much never had a good experience watching a game there.

Like Layer Road there were no good sight lines in any of the stands (and I watched games from three sides at different times at Underhill and all four at Colchester) and the shallow sunken terrace that ran the length of one side was a particularly poor place to see a game, as was the shonky "temporary" scaffolding stand behind one goal (which was there for ages, though not the near twenty years Priestfield has had one).

I'm sure never seeing Cardiff or Wimbledon win there is a tiny factor (and, thinking of it, my fondest memory of the place is the Loser Goes Out of the League game against Torquay) but, all in all, it was a shithole I feel no nostalgia for whatsoever.

Underhill had bags of character and the side-terrace-away-end produced a decent atmosphere. It was also actually in Barnet and near some nice pubs. Yes sometimes you didn't have the best view of proceedings but it was fine. A decent ground in a great location.

The Hive is a featureless ground in featureless metroland that's a pain to get to from nearly everywhere and almost never worth the trip - everything about it is sterile give me a "shithole" anyday.

[Ray de Galles]

give me a "shithole" anyday.

...and 99 times out of 100 I would entirely agree with you (I count myself as a connoisseur of decrepit grounds) but not about Underhill.

I have to be honest and say I can't recall any decent pubs nearby either.

[Favourite Worst Nightmare]

Athletic Bilbao and Atletico Madrid's stadium changes have by and large been positively received whereas there are many Espanyol fans who still pine for Sarria.

When I visited Madrid I had a wander around the edge of the Vicente Calderon. Couldn’t believe it when I heard Atletico were leaving, it looked like a fabulous stadium (even if I did only see it from the outside). Right in the centre of Madrid as well.