Stadium Thread

Which is your favourite stadium and why? I've visited a few, so I'll do it in stages and sometimes by clubs that play there.

The late Messina-Pelora
A wonderful state-of-the-art stadium with a critical flaw - it was nowhere near its fan base. It took over an hour to get to from Messina - a Sicilian city sadly robbed of its history by an earthquake. Good stadium but no atmosphere as hardly anyone went to it. A lesson on making sure that building new stadiums fit needs of club and especially fans.

The Angelo Massimino - Catania
A nice stadium with a great atmosphrere - well it had it when I went before the death of Raciti. Vociferous atmosphere, but it had a problem, a bit of a Faustian bargain. To get that atmosphere its ultras had too much power. They helped make the atmosphere and they flexed muscle because of it. Still think club was scape-goated by FIGC for all the troubles in Italian football at that time.

The Renzo Barberi (sp) - Palermo
A fantastic stadium with a special atmosphere - well it had it, but ruined by FIGC - also had Faustian bargain with its ultras. Was there before February and it was very good atmosphere, loud passionate with spectacular view. Got beautiful phot from it including that view - truly sumptuos, but as usual I digress a bit. The view adds to the experience. The fans, not just ultras, were passionate, but following the Raciti inspired reforms you get a better atmosphere in a mausoleum.

Lyngby:
Quaint ground, not sure you can call it a stadium. Some seats are practically on the pitch. Their supporters group Blue Vikings are great, still create decent atmosphere, but it shows what a financial crisis can do to a club. They were relegated out ot existence due to finances, but reformed and won their way back, but fairytale ended with premature promotion - now in second league in Denmark.

Brondby:
Good stadium and their fans can create good atmosphere, especially at mention of any FCK players. David Neilson (sp) has every touch booed. Fans a bit like Valencia, but can be more extreme. Passionate supporters of team, but not liked because they expect to win things and react often violently if they don't. Nevertheless, great atmosphere.

Parken Stadion - FC Copenhagen
Been twice, saw Benfica visit in qualifiers and also Aalborg get a beating. Good supporters, but President Flemming Ostergaard is controversial. FCK is the big cash club in Denmark and has the stadium to match. Good atmosphere and generally content fans as they are successful in Danish terms. Reacted well with good atmosphere. They turned out in force knowing that an Aalborg win would give them the title in Parken. Handed them a beating 4-0. Didn't turn on team and made plenty of noise.

Great thread emp

From what I saw on the TV the Kopenhagen stadium looks great, looks really british btw!

Fey wrote:Great thread emp

From what I saw on the TV the Kopenhagen stadium looks great, looks really british btw!

Its a good stadium and they are now rebuilding one side. while this is happening they have instead set up a huge cardboard so it looks like fans are there. Most stupid thing ever.

What about you fey have you been to any other grounds then Feynoords stadium(Rotterdamn stadium right?)

Super Madrid wrote:

Fey wrote:Great thread emp

From what I saw on the TV the Kopenhagen stadium looks great, looks really british btw!

Its a good stadium and they are now rebuilding one side. while this is happening they have instead set up a huge cardboard so it looks like fans are there. Most stupid thing ever.

What about you fey have you been to any other grounds then Feynoords stadium(Rotterdamn stadium right?)

Pictures pls.

Super Madrid wrote:

Fey wrote:Great thread emp

From what I saw on the TV the Kopenhagen stadium looks great, looks really british btw!

Its a good stadium and they are now rebuilding one side. while this is happening they have instead set up a huge cardboard so it looks like fans are there. Most stupid thing ever.

What about you fey have you been to any other grounds then Feynoords stadium(Rotterdamn stadium right?)

Sounds like what Arsenal did with the North Bank (which obviously invited plenty of jibes that it was more vocal than the fans).

The Highbury Mural "The loudest part of the ground" 1992-94

That was going on in Aalborg game, but they didn't have the cardboard up then.

The Georgios Karaiskakis - Olympiacos

In Piraeus in Athens this is the comparatively new stadium of Greek Titans (couldn't resist) Olympiacos. It is named after a hero of the nineteenth century Greek Wars of Independence, who was mortally wounded near the site of the stadium. The atmosphere is spectacular or was when I went two years ago. I saw them beat PAOK, then coached by Ilie Dumitrescu. The fans are passionate, loud and love a good flare. They were out in force when I was there. Added to fantastic atmosphere. UEFA has clamped down on them for the flares though.

Super Madrid wrote:

Fey wrote:Great thread emp

From what I saw on the TV the Kopenhagen stadium looks great, looks really british btw!

Its a good stadium and they are now rebuilding one side. while this is happening they have instead set up a huge cardboard so it looks like fans are there. Most stupid thing ever.

What about you fey have you been to any other grounds then Feynoords stadium(Rotterdamn stadium right?)

out of the top of my head...mind i typing this on saturday night with a bit too much alcohol and a small amount of yeyo in me.

-Sparta
-Excelsior
-Old den haag stadium
- NAC
- PSV
- Utrecht
- Amsterdam Arena cutns
- Bernabeu
- Camp poo
- San siro
- White heart lane
- Old munich one
- Dortmund
- Schalke
- Old wembley
- Old Arsenal

And of course the one I visited the most after the ...the RBC one!!

The Olympia - Helsingborgs IF

But for an accident of history Helsingborg could have been Danish. Across the Sound is the town of Helsingor. Shakespeare lovers will recognise it as Elsinor, the site of Hamlet's castle, but Shakespeare ripped off Saxo Grammaticus and the history of Hamlet is actually Prince Amled who ruled for 65 years 2500 years ago, except he didn't exiat. Grammaticus invented Danish history to fill in gaps in Scandinavian pre-history, but as usual I need little excuse to digress into a history tour, so what about the stadium.

Well its lovely. A beautiful stadium with a fantastic atmosphere. Got to see Henrik Larssen captain against Djurgarden and yes Pa Demba Touray was in goal. If there were bananas in the ground the fans ate them! The match began with an attractive quartet of Swedish blondes (all women) sing the Swedish national anthem. It added to the atmosphere although I can't say I was concentrating on the lyrics or their singing.

The fans of both teams were great, loud and passionate. Great atmosphere.

Sekondi/Takoradi

One of the stadiums used in the African Cup of Nations tournament. It was built on time using Chinese knowhow. The stadium is pretty good, but organisation of CAF was chaotic. Sekondi has interesting history. An established teas Hasaacas (sp) was banished under Nkrumah as punishment for refusing to play a match and replaced by another team called Independence. They were disbanded after February 1966 coup. Hasaacas returned.

They are the big team that now uses the stadium. Can't talk about atmosphere during club matches, but it was interesting and loud and enjoyable during ACN

The Ohene Djan - Accra

This is now the home of Hearts of Oak the only Ghanaian team to achieve the African treble. The atmosphere was great, especially when the stadium was full. Ghana ws based there and you could ensure that their matches always had a special atmosphere, but afterwards, despite the tickets being valid for two matches the stadium emptied considerably. Nevertheless, the final was well attended and had an excellent atmosphere. The Egyptians were superb, as were the Cameroonians.

The Gay Meadow, Shrewsbury

Besides the finest name ever bestowed upon a stadium, this beauty flooded regularly (being next to a river, into which balls often flew, to be collected by legendary man in boat). The toilets were an open air gutter behind a wall (sorry, ladies), the atmosphere was varying, the pitch was horrendous. Oh how I miss it

For me it's important a stadium breathes football, close to the pitch, no Atletics tracks. De Kuip, Westfalen, Velodrome, Parkhead..

The Baba Yara - Kumasi

The old stadium was finally pulled down after minor refurbishment for the joint-hosting of the ACN eight years ago. This was the most aesthetically pleasing of the stadia for the ACN both inside and outside. It was also the most efficiently run of them. However there were turf problems and it wasn't always full. Still it had a great atmosphere, especially its farewell, when the Black stars easily beat Ivory Cost for third place. Good atmosphere then. Ghana's most successful team in national league Asante Kotoko are the main team that plays there.

It is named after the great winger of the early 60s, who tragically lost what should have been an exceptional career due to an accisdent on the team bus of his team Real Republicans in March 1963, missing the triumphs of the Black stars including their first in 1963. His goals/game ratio in international football was scarily good for a winger.

Tamale

This is the last of the stadiums used in the ACN. It is also the furthest north in the country situated in the heart of Muslim Ghana, but it is the poorest area. Abedi Pele came from poverty in this area. He's doing fine now. The stadium had a good atmosphere, but like the others it was rarely completely full. It had possibly the least interesting group and was difficult to get to. Flying should have been best option, but the flight companies were complete cowboys.

I paid for a flight only to discover they lied about it. It was cancelled without telling us while waiting to take off because there was only one other passenger. We insisted on them paying for us to take another flight. They seriously thought they would get away with it by not telling us it had been cancelled. We both made it and saw Samuel Eto'o break the ACN scoring record.

The atmosphere was as good as it could be as poverty was a serious issue. In Accra people are not rich, but in the north you really see it. Malnutrition was evident in nearby Larabanga the site of the historic and unusual looking mosque - the oldest in West Africa. The Mole Safari park is near there too. Got to visit both. The main team that plays in the new stadium is Real Tamale United - I kid you not!

De Guzman wrote:For me it's important a stadium breathes football, close to the pitch, no Atletics tracks. De Kuip, Westfalen, Velodrome, Parkhead..

Understandable, but it depends why it was built. The Ghanaian stadiums were built for the ACN, but they need to be used afterwards. This combined with the lack of facilities for other sports meant that they could not hope to run them on football alone due to economic reality in that country. It will be the same in South Africa too as stadia will share with rugby and possibly other sports too.

The ACN and for South Africa are important as they offer the possibility to build modern stadiums. They are sorely needed throughout Africa. It is the price of making them economically viable.

I've only visited European stadiums (all Dutch & something like 50 abroad), so can only comment on those.

makes sense to build multipurpose stadiums in Africa.

De Guzman wrote:I've only visited European stadiums (all Dutch & something like 50 abroad), so can only comment on those.

makes sense to build multipurpose stadiums in Africa.

No problem post on them; just thought people might be interested in African ones, but sadly I have yet to visit Egypt.

That's the only African country I've visited (quite a few times).

They love their footy.

Excelsior- Woudestein

Small ground, bit like Lyngby which is close to pitchside. Can be good atmosphere bacause of it. Made more noise supporting team against Ajax last year. Atmosphere could have been better, but heard worse too. Expected them to make more of last season - enjoying the trip I mean.

The Castle - Sparta Rotterdam

Had expected Since 1888 to do this one, but here goes. An interesting stadium that is worth a visit, but do it quickly as it is scheduled to close soon I think. Biggher than Woudestein and you can get close to action, but need to sort out their pitch heating system. Atmosphere good, but not best I've been at. Expected more passion, but they were disappointing time I was there. Performance didn't help, but still expected better - sorry Since 1888, but could have been that particular match.

I like proper old school English stadiums - the types where you have about three different types of stand on the same side of a pitch.

That's proper history. None of these modern purpose built things.

EMPeror Augustus wrote:The Castle - Sparta Rotterdam

Had expected Since 1888 to do this one, but here goes. An interesting stadium that is worth a visit, but do it quickly as it is scheduled to close soon I think. Biggher than Woudestein and you can get close to action, but need to sort out their pitch heating system. Atmosphere good, but not best I've been at. Expected more passion, but they were disappointing time I was there. Performance didn't help, but still expected better - sorry Since 1888, but could have been that particular match.

They have a castle as stadium..thats awesome imo though before the renovation it was better though now they turned the stadium with 90 degrees and all the standings are gone. Atmosphere against Feyenoord is alwas decent though!

Amazing that back in the days that was a really rich neighbourhood..and look at it now!!

You are gonna like it here next week though 110% riots for sure!!