The Saturday List #411 - My top ten favourite football grounds (updated)

Back in October 2020, I did this list. I was looking at that old blog and I really felt I'd not said what I should. I also felt I'd changed my mind on a couple, so here is my 2nd attempt. I promise not to revisit this again. 

I will start this by taking about a few grounds I dislike. Top of the list is the London Stadium, home of West Ham. It is an impressive stadium, but it is rubbish for football. I've been there a couple of times and there is simply no atmosphere. You are half a mile from the pitch and you can't hear the other fans. I used to dislike Highbury.  Firstly it had one of the smallest league pitches, that lent itself to horrible, defensive football, exemplified by the George Graham era, when Arsenal fans favourite chant was "1-0 to the Arsenal". Arsenal have always been an anaethma to me. A club that moved from Woolwich to a posher area so they could make more money. They used to have the Met Police band on the pitch before the game, which always struck me as rather pompous, as did the ornate frontage. The Clock End, where the away fans stood was uncovered, which to me showed a disdain for other teams fans. Given Arsenal were a rich club, it always seemed a deliberate slight. I was none too keen on the old White Hart Lane either, there were pillars that obstructed the view. Perhaps top of my bugbears is The Hive, where Barnet FC now play. A soulless and drab ground, which has completely put me off a team that were second to Manchester City on my list of fave grounds. And finally, I must add Old Trafford. Now you may think that this is down to my allegiance, but it has been let rot. I went there for the Euro 96 championships and I thought the ground was decent. I went a couple of years ago, in the Utd end for a derby. I was shocked at the decrepid state of the stadium. The seats are uncomfortable with no legroom. The toilets were disgusting, not enough hand basins and the catering was appalling. I feel sorry for the Utd fans. Utd should be the richest club in the world, but their owners have fleeced them. Football allegiances aside, I hate seeing such behaviour. I think Utd fans are totally taken for granted by a callous and arrogant club.

Anyway, rant over. Here are the grounds I like

1. Maine Road, Manchester. Now you may think "He would say that" and it is probably true, but there were several things that I can demonstrate to prove it. Maine Road had the largest pitch in the league. This meant the football was exciting and wingers ruled the day. Seeing Peter Barnes and David White in full flight was a joy. Another slight oddity was the Kippax Street stand. Every other club put seats at the pitch sides and the cheap standing at the ends, where the view was worse. City had a huge standing area. Maine Road boasted the largest ever gates in the country. Even Manchester United had their biggest home gate at Maine Road, when Old Trafford was being repaired after the war. By the end, it was falling down, but watch the film Billy Grimble and you'll understand just how atmospheric it was.

2. Brickfield Lane, Barnet (Hadley FC).  Again, I would say this, wouldn't I. I am a season ticket holder. In some ways, I'd agree.

Final score @hadleyfc win 5-3, great goals, dodgy defence pic.twitter.com/QrrjZLTTHO

— Roger Tichborne/Rog T (@Barneteye) December 3, 2022

There are similar non league clubs all over the land, nice little grounds, good club houses, a great atmosphere. Hadley boasts a pitch that is better than some league clubs, it's own brand of beer and some of the best chants of any club in the world. If you love football, then you'd enjoy a visit.

Underhill - Pic www.stadiumguide.com

3. Underhill, Barnet. Underhill was always a bit of a mish mash of a ground, but it was a great place to watch football. A beer in the Queens Head before, a walk up the hill afterwards for a curry with mates and a couple of pints in the Mitre. As for the football, the heyday was the Barry Fry/Stan Flashman era, with the mad 5-4 results and crowds of 8,000 that would always appear in the paper as 2,000 (the cash going in Mr Flashmans pockets to the chagrain of the taxman and local authorities). The Barnet Torys and the Chairman simply didn't care that this was a gem in the crown of Barnet and it moved. I have fogiven neither.

4. The Old White Lion Ground, Edgware. In the  1960's and 1970's, my Dad, who had no interest at all in football, being an Aussie, sponsored the team through his business MacMetals. He'd take me down, usually spend most of the time in the bar chatting, leaving me to enjoy a hot chocolate and a bag of cheese and onion crisps. The football was full on. Some of the guys who worked for my Dad played for the team, others would watch and look after me. I used to love going. My Mum banned me, when she realised I'd learned a few new words. Dad ignored this and told me that I mustn't say anything I heard at football in front of Mum, if I wanted to keep going.

5. Loftus Road, QPR. So having got all of the clubs I have some affection for (well almost), now we move on to grounds that are 100% there on merit. Loftus Road is, in my humble opinion, the last proper ground in London hosting a major team. It is tight and noisy. The pies are good. If I want to show someone what a ground should be like, then this is where I take them. I quite liked the football of QPR in the 1970's. Sadly, it is not quite the same today.

6. Craven Cottage, Fulham. I will add a caveat on this that it is the Craven Cottage of the 1970's, I've not been since the new stand has opened. The last time I went was 1999, when City and Fulham were in the third tier. We got tickets from City legend Dave Watson, who is the uncle of my former chief sound engineer. Craven Cottage was always a friendly club, I loved the little house in the corner. In the 70's you could see Bobby Moore, George Best and Rodney Marsh on the same team. Perhaps the best defender and best forward to play in the league. The only problem was it was always freezing, with a wind blowing down the Thames. 

7. Upton Park, West Ham. Having started with a rant about the home of West Ham, I have to say that Upton Park had the best atmosphere of any London ground. For some strange reason, there was never any animosity between Hammers fans and City fans. They would drink in the same pub before the match with no tension. Both teams played football that was easy on the eye. The ground itself was quite claustrophobic in a good way, which seemed to amplify the noise. I especially liked attending games under the floodlights. You always felt like you'd been to a proper game.

8. Brisbane Road, Leyton Orient. A few years ago, I went to watch Wrexham play Orient at Brisbane Road. I'd not been to the ground previously. Both were in the conference and at the top of the table. It was clear as soon as we arrived that Orient were a league club. The ground was excellent. At the corners, there are tower blocks at the corners, where people loung on balconies, with a free view. The stadium has one of the best bars of any ground, with some amazing ales on hand.

9. The old Wembley Stadium. I used to go to every England match in the 1970's, which also was the time when England were at their worst. I loved going to Wembley. The old stadium felt like the "home of football". The beer and pies were not extortionate. I saw the 1981 cup final replay and the full members cup final in 1986. City lost both, but the day out was memorable. As to the new Wembley, the less said the better. Soulless, corporate and overpriced.

10. The Etihad Stadium, Manchester.

Well, I had a wonderful day in Manchester watching @ManCity thrash @ManUtd possibly best City performance I’ve seen. Credit to both clubs and sets of fans for #Ukraine️ solidarity before match pic.twitter.com/ALNxIAmuSH

— Roger Tichborne/Rog T (@Barneteye) March 7, 2022

I thought long and hard about including the Etihad. If I'd done this list ten years ago, it may have been in the rant list at the top. However, City have grown into the stadium. When I first went, it seemed completely soulless compared to Maine Road. However, the bar areas have been well decorated, the toilet blocks are clean and ample. The seats are comfortable with leg room and the City fans have grown into the stadium. The owners have done everything they can to make the experience better. The light shows for night games are wonderful. You have to move with the times. 

----

I could not finish this list without a mention of the new White Hart Lane. In many ways, that is the best ground in the country now. The bar areas are amazing, the views are great, the atmosphere when Spurs are playing well is wonderful. But I feel that the owners of the club are simply not focussed enough on making the football worthy of the stadium. They seem to see the stadium as an asset that is as much for Beyonce gigs, American Football and Boxing as it is a football ground. I've no objection to clubs staging such things, but put the football first, if you want to make a list like this.