Announcement

Collapse
No announcement yet.

Currently operating sports venue that is least used.

Collapse
X
 
  • Filter
  • Time
  • Show
Clear All
new posts

    Currently operating sports venue that is least used.

    I started pondering what goes on at Wimbledon the other 50 weeks of the year and it appears that, aside from all the maintenance, rebuilding and ongoing commercial ventures, there are actually matches held by the All England club against other clubs just like any other club throughout the year. Indeed, there still appears to be a croquet club still extant there as well. That made me wonder what's the least used major sports venue is. International stadiums seem like the obvious bet but ones like Wembley and the Millennium Stadium (although theirs' have reduced since the football team have moved to the Stade De Farce) seem to have a fair amount of sporting events throughout the year - as well as concerts etc. Twickenham seems like the least used to me - 3 Six Nations matches, 2 or 3 friendlies, 2 or 3 finals - and that appears that. Perhaps Croke Park is used less in thinking about it.

    #2
    Most college football stadiums host 5-7 games a season. They are rarely used for other events.

    Comment


      #3
      Stadia built in advance of fruitless Olympic bids come to mind, particularly La Carthuja in Sevilla

      Comment


        #4
        BTW, I don't think that Wimbledon's usage pattern is at all unusual for hosts of tennis or golf tournaments

        Comment


          #5
          Aintree has the grand sum of eight days racing per National Hunt season, including the three days of The Grand National meet.

          Comment


            #6
            Members, including past Champions of Wimbledon, are allowed to use the courts all year, just as at Queens and others. But with one exception. Centre. That is not available even to practice on during the Championships. It is solely reserved for matches over the two weeks. It's not even been available for Davis Cup ties, the ones of those which have landed in the summer and been played at Wimbledon have been hosted on No.1 Court. I believe the only time Centre has been used for something other than Championships matches is the 2012 Olympics.

            My nomination would be the big stadium at Strahov in Prague. It has barely ever been used for competitive sport in it's history, what with the turf area being big enough for nine full-sized Football pitches. It mostly hosted Spartakiadas, massive synchronized gymnastic displays of the sort that Communist regimes loved, though Strahov both comfortably predated the Communist takeover of Czechoslovakia in it's construction and it's first hosting of a mass games like this. Even these, when they happened, were once every four years (my Mum took part in the one in 1960). It's also, at capacity of 250,000, one of the biggest sporting venues ever constructed by spectator capacity, and even higher when measured against both the population of the city (Prague was around 1 million-ish during the 1930s) and country it's in. It is just wildly overscale in a manner that would make Nazarbayev nod appreciatively.

            This photo was taken fairly recently:-

            Comment


              #7
              Herts FA have a County Ground in Letchworth. It was originally built to host Senior Cup and Charity Cup finals but hasn't for years. For some time it was the home ground of Letchworth FC but they went bust about fifteen years ago and it hasn't been used since to my knowledge.

              Comment


                #8
                Originally posted by Bordeaux Education View Post
                Perhaps Croke Park is used less in thinking about it.
                Define "used". I've been to a conference in Croke Park.

                Comment


                  #9
                  Originally posted by Amor de Cosmos View Post
                  Herts FA have a County Ground in Letchworth. It was originally built to host Senior Cup and Charity Cup finals but hasn't for years. For some time it was the home ground of Letchworth FC but they went bust about fifteen years ago and it hasn't been used since to my knowledge.
                  The reformed Baldock Town played there for a few seasons at one point relatively recently. Given that the ground is in Letchworth rather than Baldock, albeit right on the edge of Letchworth nearest to Baldock (the two towns being only about a mile apart (explanation for the rest of you, as Amor obviously knows this!)), they laboured under the godawful name of Baldock Town Letchworth FC whilst they were there.

                  Do Hitchin still own the original and now defunct Baldock Town's old ground? I think they did at one stage. The stands are still there, but it seems to be mostly used for five-a-side leagues these days.
                  Last edited by Janik; 13-07-2019, 21:49.

                  Comment


                    #10
                    Contrary to local belief Hitchin Town FC never have owned the Norton Road ground. Terry Melvin the club's CEO owns it. It's rented out mainly to junior teams in the district and, as you say, five a side clubs and schools. I think the only time HTFC have used it is for practices when Top Field is unusable due to snow.

                    Comment


                      #11
                      Originally posted by Bordeaux Education View Post
                      I started pondering what goes on at Wimbledon the other 50 weeks of the year and it appears that, aside from all the maintenance, rebuilding and ongoing commercial ventures, there are actually matches held by the All England club against other clubs just like any other club throughout the year. Indeed, there still appears to be a croquet club still extant there as well. That made me wonder what's the least used major sports venue is. International stadiums seem like the obvious bet but ones like Wembley and the Millennium Stadium (although theirs' have reduced since the football team have moved to the Stade De Farce) seem to have a fair amount of sporting events throughout the year - as well as concerts etc. Twickenham seems like the least used to me - 3 Six Nations matches, 2 or 3 friendlies, 2 or 3 finals - and that appears that. Perhaps Croke Park is used less in thinking about it.
                      Twickenham is used for Six Nations matches, Autumn internationals, the Premiership Final, for club matches such as the Harlequins Big Game and by Bath once a season, for Barbarians matches, the Varsity Match, Army v Navy match, occasional European cup matches for clubs such as Saracens, World Cup warm-ups this season and multiple actual World Cup matches when England are a host nation and also for Gridiron matches. Then there are concerts by acts like U2, Eminem, Metallica, Iron Maiden and others.

                      It's a massive cash cow and used plenty.

                      Comment


                        #12
                        Originally posted by Cal Alamein View Post
                        Most college football stadiums host 5-7 games a season. They are rarely used for other events.
                        Plus the spring game. And the smaller schools may also use the stadium for track and soccer. Occasionally, they might hold a concert or a graduation ceremony.

                        The club areas and suites, if there are any, are used for other events.

                        Every university wants to get more events at the stadium, but in general, gridiron stadiums are too big for anything but gridiron.

                        NFL stadiums aren’t used much more.

                        Comment


                          #13
                          Originally posted by ursus arctos View Post
                          Stadia built in advance of fruitless Olympic bids come to mind, particularly La Carthuja in Sevilla
                          Montjuic presumably isn't used much either?

                          Comment


                            #14
                            Concerts, mostly.

                            Comment


                              #15
                              Can't help but think of Valencia's F1 track - which I don't believe is now used at all.

                              Comment


                                #16
                                It doesn't exist anymore, at least not as a racing circuit. Basically it was a waste of money and a crap circuit at that.

                                Comment


                                  #17
                                  Originally posted by Janik View Post
                                  The reformed Baldock Town played there for a few seasons at one point relatively recently. Given that the ground is in Letchworth rather than Baldock, albeit right on the edge of Letchworth nearest to Baldock (the two towns being only about a mile apart (explanation for the rest of you, as Amor obviously knows this!)), they laboured under the godawful name of Baldock Town Letchworth FC whilst they were there.
                                  Is there a mile? Whenever I get the bus from Luton Airport to Royston/Cambridge (as I did yesterday and do fairly often) I can never tell where one ends and the next begins.



                                  Comment


                                    #18
                                    Originally posted by Amor de Cosmos View Post
                                    Herts FA have a County Ground in Letchworth. It was originally built to host Senior Cup and Charity Cup finals but hasn't for years. For some time it was the home ground of Letchworth FC but they went bust about fifteen years ago and it hasn't been used since to my knowledge.
                                    I thought I was going to watch Letchworth Garden City Eagles play Clapton CFC there in the Anagram Cup. But Letchworth Garden City Eagles play in a nice little ground behind a sports centre down the road. A fairly popular local rugby team played next door as well.

                                    Only game I've ever watched from the comfort of my own car as it was bucketing down the whole game and the fella taking money on the gate took pity on my wife and daughter, who I'd dragged along to the game, by letting me park my car pitch side. I beeped the car horn when Clapton got a last minute deciding goal.

                                    Comment


                                      #19
                                      Originally posted by ursus arctos View Post
                                      BTW, I don't think that Wimbledon's usage pattern is at all unusual for hosts of tennis or golf tournaments
                                      Inasmuch as they are used by local club members in-between tournaments?

                                      Comment


                                        #20
                                        Originally posted by Wouter D View Post

                                        Define "used". I've been to a conference in Croke Park.
                                        Oh, for sporting events. A lot of these places will have conferences and concerts, I expect.
                                        Last edited by Bored Of Education; 14-07-2019, 12:30.

                                        Comment


                                          #21
                                          Originally posted by Kevin S View Post

                                          Montjuic presumably isn't used much either?
                                          Yes, I think that that is stretching the 'Currently operating' part of the title - for sporting events, at least.

                                          Comment


                                            #22
                                            Originally posted by steveeeeeeeee View Post

                                            I thought I was going to watch Letchworth Garden City Eagles play Clapton CFC there in the Anagram Cup.
                                            I will never get back the time trying to work out whether one of those teams is an anagram of another.

                                            Comment


                                              #23
                                              Montjuic hasn't had a tenant since Espan(y)ol left, but La Cartuja has never had a tenant.

                                              Built in 1999, it has hosted four Spain internationals, two Copa Del Rey Finals, a UEFA Cup Final, the World Athletics Championships that it was built for, two Davis Cup Finals and a single Betis match when the Benito Villamarin was suspended.

                                              Comment


                                                #24
                                                Croke park was mentioned upthread, it's actually a very busy stadium, it's Dublin's home ground for the league and the Championship which is usually about 8 games, it also hosts the all Ireland club final, the Leinster football and hurling finals, several games in the football and hurling championship as well as women's football, Camogie,Compromise rules, visiting American football games and virtually all the schools finals, probably about 50 days a year on average.

                                                Comment


                                                  #25
                                                  Originally posted by George View Post
                                                  Aintree has the grand sum of eight days racing per National Hunt season, including the three days of The Grand National meet.
                                                  I remember a time when the Grand National meeting was the only fixture all year.

                                                  There's a cycle race that takes place on the roads round the inside of the course every March - the Eddie Soens Memorial race.

                                                  Comment

                                                  Working...
                                                  X