Simon Inglis -Football Grounds of Great Britain | Vital Football

Simon Inglis -Football Grounds of Great Britain

jokerman

jokerman

Vital Football Hero
Spring cleaning, I came across this. When I opened it, two Bradford Park Avenue programmes from 1968-9 fell out which brought back some nice memories BUT as I re-visited the entry on Priestfield I was shocked to register for the first time that he gets the Rainham End and The Gillingham End mixed up. Other than that, a good read and Spring cleaning was temporarily suspended. He notes the litter under the main stand at Valley Parade.
 
jokerman said:
Spring cleaning, I came across this. When I opened it, two Bradford Park Avenue programmes from 1968-9 fell out which brought back some nice memories BUT as I re-visited the entry on Priestfield I was shocked to register for the first time that he gets the Rainham End and The Gillingham End mixed up. Other than that, a good read and Spring cleaning was temporarily suspended. He notes the litter under the main stand at Valley Parade.
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Fantastic book. One of the few that will never go to a charity shop. I wonder how many clubs have new grounds since it was published ( about 1988?).
 
A book that would struggle to sell today. So many similar grounds built to a formula since 88. Some grounds might have been less safe back then but boy, were they more interesting!
 
Vambogills said:
A book that would struggle to sell today. So many similar grounds built to a formula since 88. Some grounds might have been less safe back then but boy, were they more interesting!
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Set me wondering what is everyone's favourite club ground in terms of the actual stadium and spending time there so including fans and staff.Apart from Priestfield of course?

Strangely I think I would pick Burton wonderful people down to earth.But then I was never impressed by big clubs and stadiums.
 
I still have many of the Football Ground Guide which i think were by the same author. Particularly used to like his descriptions of our away toilets!

There’s supposed to be a great book out now, The Cemetery End, which showcases 350 lost grounds and stands.

http://groundtastic.co.uk/thecemeteryend.html

In the meantime enjoy a few recent tweets from what I think is the book’s author:

https://twitter.com/x/status/1258426682156990472

https://twitter.com/x/status/1257580017485307905

https://twitter.com/x/status/1261602753819877377

What was the original cost of the Gordon Road Stand? Wasn’t it in barrels of whiskey and cigarettes?
 
Ugh! Withdean! Apart from Ninian Park one of the worst football spectating experiences.
Best ground for me as an away Gills fan - Craven Cottage.
 
I had the football ground guide in late 90s and started marking the ones I’d been to. God knows where that is, I’ve moved house twice since then.

Some favourites, in no particular order.

Stoke - yeah I know they can be a nasty bunch, but I really liked the Britannia. Coupled with mostly good results there too. When they’re in full voice Delilah sounds fucking incredible.

Highfield road - lucky enough to visit there the season before Coventry left it. Such a shame, terraced streets all round, like Priestfield but bigger.

New den - just love going up there for games, especially under lights. Again, blessed with mainly good fortunes there.

Forest - not so much the ground, but the weekend pissups there with football still make me smile now, over 15 years later. Real good city for a weekend when there’s 1000 gills up there.
 
Rob_b100 said:
I had the football ground guide in late 90s and started marking the ones I’d been to. God knows where that is, I’ve moved house twice since then.

Some favourites, in no particular order.

Stoke - yeah I know they can be a nasty bunch, but I really liked the Britannia. Coupled with mostly good results there too. When they’re in full voice Delilah sounds fucking incredible.

Highfield road - lucky enough to visit there the season before Coventry left it. Such a shame, terraced streets all round, like Priestfield but bigger.

New den - just love going up there for games, especially under lights. Again, blessed with mainly good fortunes there.

Forest - not so much the ground, but the weekend pissups there with football still make me smile now, over 15 years later. Real good city for a weekend when there’s 1000 gills up there.
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Totally agree about the Britannia.
 
Great book. Loved it. I thank that book for my love of visiting stadiums just to admire the architecture.

Favourite ground in the UK ? Highfield road is a good shout along with Portman Road. I dont like modern bowl stadiums.

Best stadium I have visited either Bernebeu or Signal Iduna.
 
Got the British and European ones by Inglis, fantastic books.

Very impressed with Vince Taylor's work too


Oops, sorry. Wrong thread.
 
Vambogills said:
Ugh! Withdean! Apart from Ninian Park one of the worst football spectating experiences.
Best ground for me as an away Gills fan - Craven Cottage.
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Withdean the worst. Also liked Craven Cottage. I was ok with Ninian Park (1 1 draw back in mid 80's).

I used to like the old Oxford United ground. Loads of 'bits'.

Millwall is sh#t. 4 slabs.

For non league, my local ground, Bromley, is nice.
 
I visited Bramall Lane when I was about 9 or 10 but have never been there since. It made a big impression on me at the time but I've got a feeling it's not quite as magnificent as I remember it.

Dunno if this is any good but there's over an hour of it! I might check it out later...
 
I put Withdean in there as I thought It was interesting how it was remodelled from a tennis arena. Obviously it became the horrid stadium made from a load of temporary stands around a running track...

I enjoyed:
- Highfield Road. Modern, good atmosphere. Ricoh is ugly/too big, and that’s when they’re actually there.
- Hillsborough
Highbury (Arsenal)
- Craven Cottage in the 90s (for the stadium, anyway)
- Fratton Park in the 2000s.
- Ninian Park in the 2000s - character, terracing, fans who just want to outsing you.
- Elland Road Full house was loud too.
- I always enjoy West Brom as they’re another team with the whole ground singing against lowly opposition.
- Derby rings a bell for that too?
- Saltergate for the noise from the home end rather than the stadium.
- As a teen I always liked the look of the Madejski. Sadly it seems to have suffered the same way as most other new builds - too far out of town to bother going, empty seats, and a poor/fake atmosphere. What was Elm Park like?

Maine Road the most intimidating.

From my first visit to Bloomfield Road in the late 90s I would’ve loved to have seen that Kip in its heyday. The rest of the ground had character too.

Upton Park = shit.



Abroad I’m desperate to visit San Siro before it gets demolished. Gutted I never got to go to Athletico Madrid’s old Vicente Caulderon. De Kuip another one on the list. Union Berlin, Velodrome.
 
Trev_GFC said:
- As a teen I always liked the look of the Madejski. Sadly it seems to have suffered the same way as most other new builds - too far out of town to bother going, empty seats, and a poor/fake atmosphere. What was Elm Park like?
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Elm Park was fantastic through a drunken haze on New Years Day, trying to keep a meat pie down whilst watching our lads romp to a 2-1 victory during their all-conquering (but not us) season in mid-80’s.

Having said that, I’d have labelled any ground as fantastic under those particular circumstances 👍
 
San Siro is interesting Trevor. A massive temple of a football ground in the outside but inside the seats were just bolted on to the terrace. Just the little plastic shape to sit on, not even proper seats.

A very old and tired stadium to visit.
 
jokerman said:
Spring cleaning, I came across this. When I opened it, two Bradford Park Avenue programmes from 1968-9 fell out which brought back some nice memories BUT as I re-visited the entry on Priestfield I was shocked to register for the first time that he gets the Rainham End and The Gillingham End mixed up. Other than that, a good read and Spring cleaning was temporarily suspended. He notes the litter under the main stand at Valley Parade.[/QUOTE
When I was a boy I remember going through a little access gate underneath the Gordon road stand. The amount of rubbish under there along with old programmes and rosettes ( of which I took home with me) a fire just waiting to happen. Although the Gordon road stand was not on the same scale as the one at Valley Parade.
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jokerman said:
Spring cleaning, I came across this. When I opened it, two Bradford Park Avenue programmes from 1968-9 fell out which brought back some nice memories BUT as I re-visited the entry on Priestfield I was shocked to register for the first time that he gets the Rainham End and The Gillingham End mixed up. Other than that, a good read and Spring cleaning was temporarily suspended. He notes the litter under the main stand at Valley Parade.
Click to expand...
I remember when I was a boy going though a li
jokerman said:
Spring cleaning, I came across this. When I opened it, two Bradford Park Avenue programmes from 1968-9 fell out which brought back some nice memories BUT as I re-visited the entry on Priestfield I was shocked to register for the first time that he gets the Rainham End and The Gillingham End mixed up. Other than that, a good read and Spring cleaning was temporarily suspended. He notes the litter under the main stand at Valley Parade.
Click to expand...
I remember when I was a boy I went through a little access gate under the Gordon road stand. The amount of rubbish underneath there along with old programmes and rosettes ( of which I took home with me) A fire just waiting to happen, although the Gordon road stand was not on the same scale as the one at Valley Parade.
 
Doncaster Rovers old Belle View was always a fave.
Huddersfields 'new' ground I've often thought would be a good blue print if Gills ever got around to building something.
Always felt comfortable at Hillsborough and really like Wednesday fans. They've been up and down that many times they don't take themselves too seriously and exhibit a healthy dose of black humour.
 
Archiepoptart said:
Doncaster Rovers old Belle View was always a fave.
Huddersfields 'new' ground I've often thought would be a good blue print if Gills ever got around to building something.
Always felt comfortable at Hillsborough and really like Wednesday fans. They've been up and down that many times they don't take themselves too seriously and exhibit a healthy dose of black humour.
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Yeah Belle Vue was interesting. I didn’t care much for the ends by the time it was demolished, but the two side stands were memorable. A nice main stand enclosure mirroring ours which we used to be put in, and opposite was a nice small covered terrace the whole length of the pitch which would be crammed. The core support.
 
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