Great video! My first ever match i went to was at Highfield Road Coventry back in 1994 and as a Derby fan i was lucky enough to go the Baseball ground a few times before we left in 1997, so much character and memories in all these old grounds
Being a neutral, the worst move out of all these.. was the West Ham one. Leaving an Iconic stadium/area, moving into a soulless Olympic Arena converted for Football. I remember the anger by West Ham fans when it was announced, and even today there are still West Ham fans that are sad/unhappy.
Yeah, as a West Ham fan it hurts to see Upton Park these days. That place was beautiful. Moving out might not have been so bad if we actually owned the Olympic Stadium and were able to _properly_ convert it over to being a dedicated football ground, much like Man City were able to to with the Etihad (which was originally built for the 2002 Commonwealth Games)....but no.....we've got to keep the running track in place so that athletics meets can still be held there, despite the fact that no athletics meeting will EVER fill that place again, not unless we host another Olympics there, which ain't gonna happen any time soon! The ONLY way that stadium will ever work, is if some multi-billionaire buys the club, buys the stadium from the council and says "we're converting this into a 90,000 seat FOOTBALL stadium!".....but the cost of that would be selling our very soul as a club in search of glory......much like Man City.....
Very Nostalgic. Went to many of these in 80s early 90s. Boltons ground was a small section next to a supermarket. Car park was full of puddles and potholes, was there the night Matthew Harding dies on his way home from the game RIP.. Leicesters old ground always reminded me of Portman Road Ipswich.
I miss upton park so much 😢 I love how highbury still looks like highbury must be so nice for the fans to go and see and reminise... sadly we dont have that and never will
Watching this video actually inadvertently highlights one of the big problems with modern football. You'll notice that pretty much all of the old stadiums are absolutely SURROUNDED on all sides by rows and rows of housing. Now that sucks from the clubs perspective when it comes to expansion and redevelopment of the stadium itself, but at the same time it meant that the football club was truly at the heart of its community. Everyone from that local area would have been able to see and hear the stadium from streets away, and nearly everyone would go there on the weekend. The modern stadiums may look big and impressive, but they are mostly all situated in the middle of wide open, soulless industrial parks. They just don't have that same connection to the local people as they once did. Also, as a fan of footballing history, I gotta give respect to Archibald Leitch. That guy designed so many early football stadiums in this country it's unreal. You can always tell when it's one of his designs because he always incorporated a decorative embellishment in the center of the roof of main stand, often triangular but sometimes rounded, it's famously known as the 'Archibald Leitch Gable'. Sadly only a few Leitch designed stadiums remain standing that still have the roof gable intact, Everton (but not for long), Fulham, Sheffield Wednesday, Dundee, Aberdeen, Crystal Palace and Portsmouth. The most recent casualty was Tottenhams White Hart Lane. When you think about it, it's actually impressive that some examples of his work even remain to this day, considering Leitch died in 1939, aged 74!
I do honestly think all of his remaining works should be listed. We've lost far too many. It is a real shame that new stadiums don't get built in the community any more and just end up in some retail park. I think the only ones that have kept it in the community are indeed Arsenal, sp*rs and Leicester due to good fortune of available land
All them old grounds had great atmosphere and where mainly for the working class but now all the new stadiums look impressive but it’s all corporate hospitality and football is going away from it’s working class roots !
I think we just remember a time in football when atmosphere was better rather than the stadiums. Price rises have priced a lot of local fans out, reduction in standing areas like the Kippax, harsher stewarding etc means even if these grounds remained, the atmosphere wouldn’t be the same.
It was nice seeing all these original stadiums - or grounds, where I have watched my favorites play from the late 60's. However, I have never been to any of the new stadiums. What stands out for me about the original is that many were distinctive and had character whereas some of the new stadia resemble job lots. I know they are more luxurious and have increased capacity, though not all, but I do miss the originals which bring back memories - good and not so good.
Ayresome Park was a scary place to go back in the late 80's. My only time there was for a live TV game when Boro played my team Villa in the old second division. In the run up to the game Villa fans had been chased by Boro fans and anything that could have been thrown at us such as bricks,parts of vehicles and lots more, was. A week later we were playing down at Bournemouth where i met a fan who had also been at Boro and had spent the night in Middlesbrough Hospital having had a slab of concrete dropped on his head. So thankful to come out of there uninjured.
Middlesbrough is still a very rough place these days. One of the more deprived Northern towns. Obviously for football it's different, football is so well policed/ quarantined since the late 90's.. so meeting that at a football match is so rare these days. But Middlesbrough the town, is still very rough. I remember there was a regular police program overseeing Middlesbrough, lots of car thefts/joyriding and disorderly behavior in housing estates from half dressed tenants etc.
Thanks for the nice comment. Although we uploaded a couple of videos last year, we’ve only recently started making regular content so by that reckoning we are still fairly new.
Dont go anymore, done with an heavy heart. I just got fed up with Ludicrous ticket prices,shit sanitized atmospheres,And silly kick off days and times to accommodate Sky and TNT sport's. Manchester city fan of 40 years. RIP Maine Road 2003!!!
I think the day Chelsea decides to move out and build a new stadium, mostly likley a soulless oval like the rest of these clubs I fall in depression. I know rumors are there for years now but I don't want a stadium that look accectly like the stadium from Arsenal, Tottenham or West Ham.
I remember a few years back Chelsea were looking into the possibility of buying Battersea power station and converting that structure into a 60,000-seat football ground, chimney towers and all. There's even artists mock-ups on Google of what it might have looked like if they'd gone ahead with it, and honestly, if they'd managed to pull it off it would have been one of the most visually interesting and unique grounds in the world, with GIANT chimney stacks in each corner of the ground. Shame it didn't happen, but in the end it's probably for the best that it didn't. (I imagine future expansions would have been nigh impossible, given it's a grade 2 listed building)
Funny enough I watched Bolton beat Charlton 4/1 at Burnden Park in December 82. Alan Simonsens first game for Charlton. And I was at the reebok for their first game in the new stadium
Good history.😮 Am i correct Southampton fc moved to st Mary’s stadium because to be closer to st Mary’s church where they were originally formed? Thank you for reply.😅
I would say it was more of a happy coincidence than anything else. There was a lot of talk of the stadium being out by the motorway, like Brighton's and Reading's, fortunately that didn't happen, although there was plenty of land available at the time much nearer to the city centre, which could have been amazing.
I noticed most of these stadium moves were done between 1995 and 2007, when the Baby Boomers were at the height of their earnings potential, and thus capital generation, all before the 2008 recession. Since then, only Spurs and West Ham have made big stadium moves, since capital for that king of thing is much harder to come by, now. Also, I agree with many people here that these new stadia are soulless husks of metal and concrete, with no real character. But we live in an era of Mammonism (worship of money), so it's hardly surprising that people will sell their souls and their histories for extra £££. However, I think future people will look back on this era with disappointment, and even perhaps shame.
The other thing about most of these being built between 95/97 is that the Taylor Report had required all First Division and Premier League sides to have all seater grounds by summer 1994. Some of these like Bolton (my team) and Derby had Premier League ambitions and ultimately found it to be cheaper to build a new stadium instead of renovating the one they already had, which of course is a shame.
Mostly demolished to move in line with the safety requirements from the Taylor report coming into effect which most of these stadiums could not adhere to at all or at least not without a massive loss to capacity.
Great video! My first ever match i went to was at Highfield Road Coventry back in 1994 and as a Derby fan i was lucky enough to go the Baseball ground a few times before we left in 1997, so much character and memories in all these old grounds
Being a neutral, the worst move out of all these.. was the West Ham one.
Leaving an Iconic stadium/area, moving into a soulless Olympic Arena converted for Football.
I remember the anger by West Ham fans when it was announced, and even today there are still West Ham fans that are sad/unhappy.
Yeah, as a West Ham fan it hurts to see Upton Park these days. That place was beautiful.
Moving out might not have been so bad if we actually owned the Olympic Stadium and were able to _properly_ convert it over to being a dedicated football ground, much like Man City were able to to with the Etihad (which was originally built for the 2002 Commonwealth Games)....but no.....we've got to keep the running track in place so that athletics meets can still be held there, despite the fact that no athletics meeting will EVER fill that place again, not unless we host another Olympics there, which ain't gonna happen any time soon!
The ONLY way that stadium will ever work, is if some multi-billionaire buys the club, buys the stadium from the council and says "we're converting this into a 90,000 seat FOOTBALL stadium!".....but the cost of that would be selling our very soul as a club in search of glory......much like Man City.....
Very Nostalgic. Went to many of these in 80s early 90s. Boltons ground was a small section next to a supermarket. Car park was full of puddles and potholes, was there the night Matthew Harding dies on his way home from the game RIP.. Leicesters old ground always reminded me of Portman Road Ipswich.
I miss upton park so much 😢
I love how highbury still looks like highbury must be so nice for the fans to go and see and reminise... sadly we dont have that and never will
Watching this video actually inadvertently highlights one of the big problems with modern football. You'll notice that pretty much all of the old stadiums are absolutely SURROUNDED on all sides by rows and rows of housing.
Now that sucks from the clubs perspective when it comes to expansion and redevelopment of the stadium itself, but at the same time it meant that the football club was truly at the heart of its community. Everyone from that local area would have been able to see and hear the stadium from streets away, and nearly everyone would go there on the weekend. The modern stadiums may look big and impressive, but they are mostly all situated in the middle of wide open, soulless industrial parks. They just don't have that same connection to the local people as they once did.
Also, as a fan of footballing history, I gotta give respect to Archibald Leitch. That guy designed so many early football stadiums in this country it's unreal. You can always tell when it's one of his designs because he always incorporated a decorative embellishment in the center of the roof of main stand, often triangular but sometimes rounded, it's famously known as the 'Archibald Leitch Gable'.
Sadly only a few Leitch designed stadiums remain standing that still have the roof gable intact, Everton (but not for long), Fulham, Sheffield Wednesday, Dundee, Aberdeen, Crystal Palace and Portsmouth. The most recent casualty was Tottenhams White Hart Lane. When you think about it, it's actually impressive that some examples of his work even remain to this day, considering Leitch died in 1939, aged 74!
I do honestly think all of his remaining works should be listed. We've lost far too many. It is a real shame that new stadiums don't get built in the community any more and just end up in some retail park. I think the only ones that have kept it in the community are indeed Arsenal, sp*rs and Leicester due to good fortune of available land
I miss the atmosphere, the smells, the terraces, and even the old turnstiles of those old grounds.
All them old grounds had great atmosphere and where mainly for the working class but now all the new stadiums look impressive but it’s all corporate hospitality and football is going away from it’s working class roots !
Maybe I've got tinted glasses on but my memories of the old grounds is they had way more atmosphere than newer grounds.
If you have I think many, many more have as well.
I think we just remember a time in football when atmosphere was better rather than the stadiums. Price rises have priced a lot of local fans out, reduction in standing areas like the Kippax, harsher stewarding etc means even if these grounds remained, the atmosphere wouldn’t be the same.
Much more
Never went to White Hart Lane but always liked the look of it and remember watching some great match's on tv there
Went to white Hart lane the the day Villa went top of the old First Division in 1990. Platt scored in a 2-0 win.
Atmosphere was crazy. Good old days.
Sad to see so many stadiums get pulled down, but you can’t tell a few of them were beginning to look outdated.
I went to a few of these, Burnden Park was terrible but Maine Road still decent, just worn out and pointless to repair/upgrade.
Great video and absolutely relaxing instrumental ❤
It was nice seeing all these original stadiums - or grounds, where I have watched my favorites play from the late 60's. However, I have never been to any of the new stadiums. What stands out for me about the original is that many were distinctive and had character whereas some of the new stadia resemble job lots. I know they are more luxurious and have increased capacity, though not all, but I do miss the originals which bring back memories - good and not so good.
Ayresome Park was a scary place to go back in the late 80's. My only time there was for a live TV game when Boro played my team Villa in the old second division. In the run up to the game Villa fans had been chased by Boro fans and anything that could have been thrown at us such as bricks,parts of vehicles and lots more, was.
A week later we were playing down at Bournemouth where i met a fan who had also been at Boro and had spent the night in Middlesbrough Hospital having had a slab of concrete dropped on his head. So thankful to come out of there uninjured.
Middlesbrough is still a very rough place these days. One of the more deprived Northern towns.
Obviously for football it's different, football is so well policed/ quarantined since the late 90's.. so meeting that at a football match is so rare these days.
But Middlesbrough the town, is still very rough. I remember there was a regular police program overseeing Middlesbrough, lots of car thefts/joyriding and disorderly behavior in housing estates from half dressed tenants etc.
Great video I don't understand how that channel is not so famous
Thanks for the nice comment. Although we uploaded a couple of videos last year, we’ve only recently started making regular content so by that reckoning we are still fairly new.
Great job. The old stadia had a fantastic atmosphere.
Great video really enjoyed it 😊
Nice job, I have good memories of Highfield Road
I'm amazed that most of the stadiums here were designed by Archibald Leitch😂😂😂 How many more stadiums did he design?
LOTS more 🤣
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Archibald_Leitch?wprov=sfti1#Stadium_design
@@Retro-Football-Club just entered to the link, looked at the list and almost fainted😂😂😂😂
Tons including Goodison Park and Ibrox Stadium.
Great video there were more soul in old stadiums 😉
Highbury
Highfield Road
Maine Road
The Dell
Upton Park
I miss them all
Uncle Des with Alan and Jimmy taking us to the grounds each week
great mini series thanks
This is the best one yet.
Music is Walking Hearts - If I Could Fly (Instrumental Version)
What a great little video.
Dont go anymore, done with an heavy heart. I just got fed up with Ludicrous ticket prices,shit sanitized atmospheres,And silly kick off days and times to accommodate Sky and TNT sport's. Manchester city fan of 40 years. RIP Maine Road 2003!!!
I think the day Chelsea decides to move out and build a new stadium, mostly likley a soulless oval like the rest of these clubs I fall in depression. I know rumors are there for years now but I don't want a stadium that look accectly like the stadium from Arsenal, Tottenham or West Ham.
I remember a few years back Chelsea were looking into the possibility of buying Battersea power station and converting that structure into a 60,000-seat football ground, chimney towers and all. There's even artists mock-ups on Google of what it might have looked like if they'd gone ahead with it, and honestly, if they'd managed to pull it off it would have been one of the most visually interesting and unique grounds in the world, with GIANT chimney stacks in each corner of the ground.
Shame it didn't happen, but in the end it's probably for the best that it didn't. (I imagine future expansions would have been nigh impossible, given it's a grade 2 listed building)
Okay that stadium would be funny as hell. Did never hear of that plans before. At least it would have been unique.
@@BadgerOff32 I'm a Gooner and I personally would have loved to have seen that.
I love the old and square stadium. ❤
Funny enough I watched Bolton beat Charlton 4/1 at Burnden Park in December 82. Alan Simonsens first game for Charlton. And I was at the reebok for their first game in the new stadium
Unique stadiums replaced by cookie cutter stadiums so sad!
Good history.😮
Am i correct Southampton fc moved to st Mary’s stadium because to be closer to st Mary’s church where they were originally formed?
Thank you for reply.😅
I would say it was more of a happy coincidence than anything else. There was a lot of talk of the stadium being out by the motorway, like Brighton's and Reading's, fortunately that didn't happen, although there was plenty of land available at the time much nearer to the city centre, which could have been amazing.
I remember doing videos on all these old grounds.
Luckily I've seen my team play at all those grounds .
Wait until the end of the season and you can add Goodison Park to the list.
I never managed to get to Highbury but have been to all the others during my time.
I noticed most of these stadium moves were done between 1995 and 2007, when the Baby Boomers were at the height of their earnings potential, and thus capital generation, all before the 2008 recession. Since then, only Spurs and West Ham have made big stadium moves, since capital for that king of thing is much harder to come by, now.
Also, I agree with many people here that these new stadia are soulless husks of metal and concrete, with no real character. But we live in an era of Mammonism (worship of money), so it's hardly surprising that people will sell their souls and their histories for extra £££. However, I think future people will look back on this era with disappointment, and even perhaps shame.
The other thing about most of these being built between 95/97 is that the Taylor Report had required all First Division and Premier League sides to have all seater grounds by summer 1994. Some of these like Bolton (my team) and Derby had Premier League ambitions and ultimately found it to be cheaper to build a new stadium instead of renovating the one they already had, which of course is a shame.
well done
Mostly demolished to chase more money. Sad.
Mostly demolished to move in line with the safety requirements from the Taylor report coming into effect which most of these stadiums could not adhere to at all or at least not without a massive loss to capacity.
Some great old grounds there except maine road what a shithole like walking through beirut
Been to everyone of those old grounds with Everton and at the end of this season our ground Goodison Park will close forever