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

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

    I'm not posting these just because Stade de Franchise and Stade de Farce get mentioned amongst the worst.

    New ground: 10 of the best stadium moves in the new-build era

    New ground: 10 unsuccessful modern stadium moves
    Last edited by Ray de Galles; 16-11-2020, 20:59.

    #2
    Aveley's new stadium is nice
    Barnet's new stadium is awful
    both are quite awkward to get to which ultimately is the worst thing about all new grounds.

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      #3
      Colchester United

      Partly selfish here - Layer Road is about a 10 minute walk from where I am typing this and was a magical place to watch football - cosy, ramshackle, rusty, warm - everything there is to love about a football ground. The Community Stadium is perfectly functional stadium but it's only convenient for the A12 and the crowds there are probably lower than if they'd stayed at their old home

      West Ham

      All of the above multiplied by about 60,000 - other than the fact that it fails even to be functional, travelling to London, hiking to the ground through acres of nothing, sitting miles from the pitch in near silence just to watch most of the match on the big screen. Maybe only Stafio del Alpi comes close to being such a complete disaster

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        #4
        What Sid said. West Ham's is an easy bus ride for me, but is awful for football. Special mention to Colchester and Coventry. And to Yeovil for building a new ground 4 miles out of town. And although I've been over ten times, I still don't like the Emirates. Or Wembley.

        Both Aveley and Horsham's new grounds are nice (although the latter is a cab ride from the station and the former probably is unless you're a penny pinching northern groundhopper).

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          #5
          And Franchise for many reasons, but also because I started walking to the ground from Milton Keynes Central and eventually had to get an Uber as the road ran out at a big fuck off roundabout.

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            #6
            Originally posted by The Mighty Trin View Post
            And Franchise for many reasons, but also because I started walking to the ground from Milton Keynes Central and eventually had to get an Uber as the road ran out at a big fuck off roundabout.
            There's a lesson here...

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              #7
              Morecambe is generally ok as new grounds go, except for the ridiculous narrow walkway behind the away end that has to accommodate people entering, people going to the bogs and people queueing for food/drink. It's not hemmed in by housing so why not just design and build it 6 foot wider?

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                #8
                Because making things a wee bit uncomfortable for away supporters is an age-old footballing tradition which should be respected.

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                  #9
                  I'm not the biggest fans of off-the-shelf new stadia but am relatively well disposed to Barnet's current ground and suspect I would be to Colchester's too as Underhill and Layer Road were by far the worst grounds I used to regularly visit.

                  Should Gillingham ever leave Priestfield I can't see me missing it either, though any replacement would still have the massive disadvantage of being in or near Gillingham.
                  Last edited by Ray de Galles; 16-11-2020, 21:59.

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                    #10
                    Originally posted by Amor de Cosmos View Post
                    Because making things a wee bit uncomfortable for away supporters is an age-old footballing tradition which should be respected.
                    GPWM.

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                      #11
                      Originally posted by Third rate Leszno View Post

                      GPWM.
                      ?

                      [edit] Ah! Cheers

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                        #12
                        Originally posted by Bizarre Löw Triangle View Post
                        both are quite awkward to get to which ultimately is the worst thing about all new grounds.
                        All?
                        Freeman's Wharf/Walkers Stadium/King Power Stadium is about 200 yards from the site of Filbert Street. Access is essentially identical.
                        Ashburton Grove is similarly close to where Highbury was located.
                        The new White Hart Lane literally overlaps the footprint of the old one.
                        Cardiff's new stadium is basically across the road from where Ninian Park was.
                        Huddersfield and Rotherham's new grounds are also within a handful of minutes walk of where the old ones were located.
                        I'm not aware of where Ayresome Park was, but the Riverside is close to both Middlesbrough city centre and main train station.

                        Whilst many of stadiums have gone out-of-town, it is hardly a ubiquitous solution. Plenty of clubs have found suitable brownfield sites within the main body of their conurbation.


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                          #13
                          Layer Road was awful and the away end felt like a death trap (see also: Luton). I've not been to the new one to know whether it's any better... but it would have to be an utter disaster to be anything like as bad.

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                            #14
                            And some old grounds are quite awkward to get to, of course. Prime example: the Abbey Stadium.

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                              #15
                              Originally posted by Janik View Post
                              All?
                              Freeman's Wharf/Walkers Stadium/King Power Stadium is about 200 yards from the site of Filbert Street. Access is essentially identical.
                              Ashburton Grove is similarly close to where Highbury was located.
                              The new White Hart Lane literally overlaps the footprint of the old one.
                              Cardiff's new stadium is basically across the road from where Ninian Park was.
                              Huddersfield and Rotherham's new grounds are also within a handful of minutes walk of where the old ones were located.
                              I'm not aware of where Ayresome Park was, but the Riverside is close to both Middlesbrough city centre and main train station.

                              Whilst many of stadiums have gone out-of-town, it is hardly a ubiquitous solution. Plenty of clubs have found suitable brownfield sites within the main body of their conurbation.


                              And as per the latest WSC, Brentford's new ground is right next to a train station, although a frequent service is also a factor, (and yes I am looking at you Brighton).

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                                #16
                                I'm not even sure that many have gone out of town. You ( Janik) are right that Middlesbrough's new (it's 25 years old) ground is closer to town than Ayresome was. I could only get the train I wanted when we were at Ayresome because games finished at twenty to five in those days. I do it with ease now. Oxford's ground is a long way out, but so was the old one. Yeah, Yeovil. The Ricoh was (is) a long way out but Reading's been the worst and one of the few that lives up to what we were being 'promised' in the 80s - an out-of-town stadium next to motorways. Elm Park was a trek but you could do it on foot. I'm not going to sit down and go through the list, but I'm pretty sure that most new stadiums are no worse for public transport (which is what matters to me) than those they replaced.

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                                  #17
                                  Scunny failed to make either list, which is about right, and they get a free pass for being the first club to take the plunge in the modern era, allowing others to learn from our mistakes. (No.1 don't go for the most basic design, it won't look good).

                                  The "new" ground is easier to get to if you're driving, but much further from the train station. There's been huge retail and leisure development around it since it opened, the area is almost the town centre for drivers.

                                  I went to a game at the Reynolds Arena, which was laughable.

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                                    #18
                                    Favourite new build (excluding Plough Lane): The New Den. For some reason I prefer grounds with four individual stands rather than a bowl. There’s always been a good atmosphere when I’ve been as well, even allowing for the oiks to the left of the away end who spend the match making slitty throat gestures. In fact maybe that even adds to the fun.

                                    Least favourite new build (excluding the franchise dome): The Madejski Stadium. Soulless out of town bowl. When your address is Junction 11, the M4, it doesn’t exactly feel like the beating heart of a community (apologies to any Reading fans).

                                    Comment


                                      #19
                                      Originally posted by Capybara View Post
                                      I'm not even sure that many have gone out of town. You ( Janik) are right that Middlesbrough's new (it's 25 years old) ground is closer to town than Ayresome was. I could only get the train I wanted when we were at Ayresome because games finished at twenty to five in those days. I do it with ease now. Oxford's ground is a long way out, but so was the old one. Yeah, Yeovil. The Ricoh was (is) a long way out but Reading's been the worst and one of the few that lives up to what we were being 'promised' in the 80s - an out-of-town stadium next to motorways. Elm Park was a trek but you could do it on foot. I'm not going to sit down and go through the list, but I'm pretty sure that most new stadiums are no worse for public transport (which is what matters to me) than those they replaced.
                                      You can't stagger from the pub to Gay Meadow any more. Never was a sadder move made than Shrewsbury's.

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                                        #20
                                        Originally posted by The Mighty Trin View Post
                                        And Franchise for many reasons, but also because I started walking to the ground from Milton Keynes Central and eventually had to get an Uber as the road ran out at a big fuck off roundabout.
                                        We walked from Central to the stadium on the day of its first league fixture (a 2-0 win for the Shakers on the opening day of 07/08). At one point of the walk it was unnervingly similar to Alan Partridge trudging along next to the dual carriageway. Gold-fingerrrrr!

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                                          #21
                                          Originally posted by Capybara View Post
                                          I'm not even sure that many have gone out of town. You ( Janik) are right that Middlesbrough's new (it's 25 years old) ground is closer to town than Ayresome was. I could only get the train I wanted when we were at Ayresome because games finished at twenty to five in those days.
                                          Ah that's funny, I don't really see it like that because Ayresome was literally in the middle of the town whereas the Riverside is on an industrial estate on the outer edge, but actually you're right that the latter is closer to the town centre and the train station.

                                          I guess there used to be a whole lot of people for whom going to the ground was a 10-15 minute walk, whereas now nobody lives within 10-15 minutes of the ground but it's much easier for people from Redcar or Billingham or even other bits of Middlesbrough to get to the game. Swings and roundabouts.

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                                            #22
                                            Originally posted by jwdd27 View Post
                                            Scunny failed to make either list, which is about right, and they get a free pass for being the first club to take the plunge in the modern era, allowing others to learn from our mistakes. (No.1 don't go for the most basic design, it won't look good).

                                            The "new" ground is easier to get to if you're driving, but much further from the train station. There's been huge retail and leisure development around it since it opened, the area is almost the town centre for drivers.

                                            I went to a game at the Reynolds Arena, which was laughable.
                                            Scunthorpe are acknowledged as kick-starting the "new-build era" in the intro to the article on best moves.

                                            Aren't they hoping to knock down and redevelop Glanford Park on a stand-by-stand basis?

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                                              #23
                                              Going back to the original post, can anyone think of a better stadium built anywhere in the world since [plucks arbitrary date from the air] 1980 than the Estadio Municipal in Braga?

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                                                #24
                                                Including Cardiff's stadium in the 10 worst list is a bit of a reach. Ninian Park was well past its prime and the worst thing they can say about it is that they don't need all the seats in the Championship.

                                                I appreciate the love for Gay Meadow from Artificial Hipster and I still have nostalgic memories natch, but really it was time to move. The new stadium has been very important to the club's continued survival.

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                                                  #25
                                                  In Scotland:

                                                  Good: Falkirk (Brockville was a tip), St.Johnstone (as much as I loved Muirton, they've gone from strength to strength at McDiarmid), Dumbarton (The Rock is far better than Boghead)

                                                  Bad: Airdrie (soulless middle-of-nowhere box that bankrupted the club), Clyde (not their fault as they were evicted from their old digs, but Broadwood remains a cold, inaccessible pile of misery)

                                                  Neither better nor worse: St.Mirren, Stirling, Inverness

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