3 November 2013

NOTTS COUNTY FC

Formed in 1862, Notts County are the oldest professional league club in the world. Situated within the City of Nottingham, over the years they have been overshadowed by the success of their near neighbours and bitter rivals Nottingham Forest.


Early Grounds

After foundation, Notts County FC played what can only be described as a variation of football to what is recognised today. 

Their first ground was at Park Hollow which was located within the grounds of Nottingham Castle. Two years later, when it was decided to start playing matches against outside opponents, the search started to find a larger venue. For the next 19 years they became nomads, moving around numerous different venues including the Meadows Cricket Ground and the Castle Cricket Ground, until settling as tenants to the Nottinghamshire County Cricket Club at Trent Bridge.

In 1888, County were one of the 12 founder member clubs of the Football League finishing the first season in 11th place. Things soon improved and 2 years later they managed 3rd. This again was equalled a further 10 years down the line, which remains their highest league finish to this day. 

In 1894 they won the FA Cup becoming the first club to win the trophy when playing outside the 1st Division (they ended the season 3rd in Division Two).

Trent Bridge to Meadow Lane

Because of the football and cricket seasons overlapping, County were often forced to play matches in early and late season at other venues whilst cricket took priority at Trent Bridge. This was duly frowned upon by the Football League, who eventually lost patience and put pressure on the club to either make a more conducive arrangement with their landlords, or look for a ground of their own.

In 1910, when the trustees of Trent Bridge decided to not renew the lease, Notts County managed to lease some land from the City council. Close to the cattle market, this land was on the other side of the river from Trent Bridge and work very soon started on the construction of a new ground.

A temporary stand that had been used at the cricket ground was dismantled and actually floated across the river to its new home at one end of the ground. A main stand was constructed along one of the sides with a cover put up on the far side and the remaining end was piled up with earth which formed the Kop.


Meadow Lane in 2005
In early September 1910 Meadow Lane was ready and its inaugural match took place against Nottingham Forest ending in a 1-1 draw in front of 27,000 people.

As the years progressed, many changes were made to the Meadow Lane ground. A new stand was built in 1923-5 on the far side with the newly constructed County Road running behind it and repairs had to be made after the ground was hit by a wartime bomb, causing extensive damage to the Main stand.

In 1949, as football attendances increased, the Kop was heightened by 12 feet and then for the next 30 years the ground remained very much in that state, until 1978, when a new structure including offices, squash courts and new changing rooms was erected to replace the Meadow Lane stand.

By 1992 the ground was beginning to look somewhat shabby and run down. So during that summer a large undertaking to build 3 new stands took place, culminating in the Main stand being replaced 2 years later.

Over the last few years the club have worked hard on a program of tidying and sprucing up the ground and it now has a capacity of 21,300 which is limited by council licence to 13,725.


Link to Italian Giants Juventus
County’s first known colours were amber and black hoops but in 1890 they adopted their now familiar black and white stripes.

Juventus actually derived their famous black and white stripes from Notts County. Back in 1903, they asked one of their players at the time, Englishman John Savage, if he had any contacts at home in England who could supply new shirts in colours that would not fade when washed. He had a friend in Nottingham who was a County supporter who shipped out a supply of black and white striped shirts. The rest as they say is history!

SHEFFIELD WEDNESDAY FC

Sheffield Wednesday Football Club are one of the oldest professional clubs in the world with four League Championships, three FA Cup victories and a League Cup to their name. They have played at many different venues in and around the Sheffield area.

In 1820, The Wednesday Cricket Club was formed, taking their name from the day of the week when they played their matches. 

In 1867, a footballing side of the club was established, mainly to keep the side together and fit in the winter months when they were not playing cricket. Very soon however, football became the main sport played by the club and the Wednesday, as they were then known, played their first competitive match a year later.

Highfield to Myrtle Road 

Early Wednesday Grounds
The first home ground used was at Highfield. Located on London Road fairly close to the city centre, the Highfield library now occupies the site where the ground was believed to have been. 

In the period up to 1870, the Wednesday also played home matches at Heeley and at Hunters Bar, but in that year moved the short distance to a site in Myrtle Road. 

Again the actual location is uncertain but with Myrtle Road being on a steep hill the popular opinion is the ground was somewhere near the summit. Here they stayed for 7 years, until moving to Sheaf House in 1877 which remained the home ground for 3 years until 1880.

Bramall Lane to Sheaf House

In the period between 1880 and 1887, the main ground used was at Bramall Lane – now better known as the home of their bitter rivals Sheffield United FC

Bramall Lane was also used for cricket by Yorkshire County Cricket Club for many years. During this time Sheaf House was also used on occasions, generally due to it being cheaper to rent, but the facilities were nowhere near as good as Bramall Lane. 

The Sheaf House public house still stands at the corner of where the ground once was.

Olive Grove

In 1887, along with the club turning professional, it was decided that the club should have its own stadium, as opposed to paying out percentages of their gate receipts as rent. They also needed a more permanent home to accommodate their ever growing fan base. 


Close to Bramall Lane, by the railway on Queen’s Road, they managed to lease a piece of land from the Duke of Norfolk. Here they spent £5000 developing a ground which was to become known as Olive Grove. 


At this location they entered the Football Alliance in 1889 which they won at their first attempt and finally joined the Football League in 1892. In 1899 however they had to leave Olive Grove as there were plans to expand the railway which ran alongside and their lease was not renewed. Just to make things worse, their last season at Olive Grove was not a success on the pitch and resulted in the clubs relegation from the 1st Division of the League.

Hillsborough

Early in 1899, the Wednesday made a share issue in an attempt to raise capital to build a new stadium. 3 plans were put forward - a site at Carbrook in the north-east of the city, a site in the outlying village of Owlerton to the rural north-west or a return to Sheaf House. 

Very soon both new sites fell through and it was considered a backward step to return to Sheaf House. As luck would have it, an alternative site in Owlerton became available and work soon started on building a new ground. Within months they were up and running and the Owlerton Stadium was complete and ready for the 1899-1900 season.

The Sheffield Wednesday Football Ground seen from Shirecliffe. 1.5 km to the east

In 1914, Owlerton became part of the Hillsborough constituency and the ground took on the constituency name. Hillsborough became one of the largest football stadia in the UK and had the distinction of hosting World Cup football in 1966, European Championship football in 1996 (Euro ’96) and 27 FA Cup semi-finals. 

The Kop terrace became, at one stage, the largest covered stand at any football ground in Europe. 

The 15th April 1989 will go down as one of the blackest days in the history of the club, the ground and English football. During an FA Cup semi-final between Liverpool and Nottingham Forest, 96 Liverpool supporters were crushed to death when the Leppings Lane end terrace became overcrowded. 

What is now referred to as the Hillsborough disaster was attributed to the local Police failing to adequately manage the crowd.

Hillsborough is now an all seater stadium holding a capacity of close on 40,000 which the club plan to increase to 50,000 by 2016.
Hillsborough Stadium

STOKE CITY FC

Stoke City are the oldest football club currently playing in the Premier League and are thought to be the 2nd oldest professional football club in the world.



Victoria Ground

1906 action at the Victoria Ground
Originally coming into existence in 1863 and going by the name of Stoke Ramblers, the 1st documented match for the club that was to become Stoke City, took place 5 years later in October 1868 at the Victoria Cricket ground against EW May XV. 

In this early period they continued to play at this venue until, due to the onset of rising attendances, they were forced to move to Sweetings Field in 1875. 

Three years later the club merged with Stoke Victoria Cricket Club to become Stoke Football Club. This involved moving to the Athletic Club Ground which soon became known as the Victoria GroundHere they stayed for  119 years. In August 1885 the club turned professional.


Stoke FC were one of the original 12 members of the Football League when it was set up in 1888, but struggled in the first two seasons finishing in last place on both occasions. 


They became owners of the Victoria Ground in 1919 and, following the construction of the Butler Street Stand, the capacity of the ground rose to 50,000. In 1928, three years after Stoke-on-Trent gained city status, the club changed its name to Stoke City FC.


Stanley Matthews

The 1930’s saw the debut of the club’s most celebrated player. Stanley Matthews, who grew up locally in Hanley, initially was an apprentice who made his full debut in March 1932 in a match against Bury aged 17. 


By the outbreak of the 2nd World War, Matthews was a regular England international and had established himself as the premier player of his generation. 

After hostilities ceased, in 1946-47 Stoke City FC mounted a title challenge and needed a victory in the final match against Sheffield United to prevail. A 2-1 defeat meant the title went to Liverpool and a now 32 year old Matthews also left, opting to join Blackpool. 

Other famous players to have graced the turf at the Victoria Ground include former England goalkeeping greats, Gordon Banks and Peter Shilton.

This photo shows the site of the Victoria Ground the home of Stoke City for 119 years awaiting development (Mar 06). On the horizon, centre picture can be seen one of the stands at the Britannia Stadium, the clubs present ground.

The Britannia Stadium

1997-98 saw Stoke City FC leave the Victoria Ground after 119 years to the newly built Britannia Stadium. 

Chic Bates was appointed manager for the first season at the new stadium but did not last long, only to be replaced by Sky Sports analyst, Chris Kamara. He did not improve the club’s fortunes and also departed 4 months later. 

At the start of the 1999-2000 season, Gary Megson (later to manage West Bromwich Albion and Bolton Wanderers in the Premier League) was appointed. He left 4 months later when Stoke City were taken over by Stoke Holding, an Icelandic Consortium who purchased a 66% stake in the club for £6.6m. 

The new owners decided upon the appointment of fellow countryman Gudjon Thordarson, who guided them to success in the Auto Windscreens Trophy and promotion to the 1st Division of the Football League in 2001-02. Thordarson had, in fact been initially the main player in getting the consortium together.

The Britannia Stadium (external)

Hooliganism and Stadium Noise

On a more sombre note, Stoke City have had problems over the years with soccer violence and football hooliganism. 

In 2003, the BBC described the club as having one of the most active and organised hooligan firms in English football (known as the Naughty Forty). Their traditional foes being the locally based Port Vale (in nearby Burslem), Wolverhampton Wanderers and latterly, West Bromwich Albion. 

Research made by TV company, Sky in a recent season uncovered Stoke City fans as the loudest in the Premier League averaging 101.8 decibels.

 A panorama of the Britannia Stadium (taken in 2005)

WOLVERHAMPTON WANDERERS FC

Founded as St Luke's in 1877, after a group of pupils at St Luke's school in Blakenhall were given a football by their headmaster. In 1879, they merged with a local cricket and football club known as the Wanderers, becoming Wolverhampton Wanderers.



Upon formation, the club were initially given the use of two fields to play on. John Harper's field and Windmill field. Both of these were to be found off Lower Villiers Street in Blakenhall


In 1881, they moved to a site on Dudley Road. No sign of this ground remains but there is a road nearby called Wanderers Avenue.


In 1889, they moved to their current home - Molineux. The name originates from Benjamin Molineux who had previously built his home on the site. 


Built in 1720, Molineux House as it became known, consisted of only what is now the lower floors of the front half of the main block. Benjamin, a local ironmaster and banker, bought the property in 1740. 


It boasted extensive walled gardens, running down the hill, to the site of the football ground to be built later. Around 1871, the building became the Molineux Hotel. After having many owners (including at one stage, the football club, who submitted plans to demolish it), the hotel fell into disrepair, eventually re-opening in 2009 under the name of the Molineux Hotel Building full story available by clicking HERE  


Back in 1889, Wolves initially rented the site from the then owners, the Northampton Brewery. After spending time converting the site into a sports arena, the first match was played on 7th September winning 2-0 against Notts County in front of 4,000 people.  

Renown for being surrounded by dirt banks in its early days, Molineux underwent extensive renovation in the 1920’s and 30’s to become a worthy stadium for a club famous throughout football.
In 1991, the South Bank in the background

The takeover of the club in 1990 by Sir Jack Hayward paved the way for re-development. The old stadium had been looking quite worn and shabby and the onset of legislation following the Taylor report requiring all Premiership and Division One stadia, to be all-seated, meant the time was ideal for renovation. 

The North Bank was demolished in October 1991 and by the following summer, the Stan Cullis stand was completed in time for the new season. Next to go was the Waterloo Road Stand which was replaced by the Billy Wright stand a few months later. In November 1993, the Jack Harris stand replaced the previously colossal South Bank.




Slideshow of Molineux Images

At an estimated cost of £20 million, the newly refurbished stadium was officially opened on 7th December 1993 with a friendly match against Hungarian team, Honvéd. 
At  that time the capacity was 29,396 but now it has decreased slightly to 29,303. Plans were unveiled in 2008 by new chairman, Steve Morgan to increase the limit to 40,000.



Footage of the Queen's visit to Molineux in 1962


ASTON VILLA FC

Aston Villa are one of the oldest and most successful English football clubs having won both the Championship and the FA Cup on seven occasions.


Witton Lane Gates
Aston Villa Football Club was formed in March 1874 by members of the Villa Cross Wesleyan Chapel in Handsworth (arguably in West Bromwich Albion territory as the Hawthorns is located on the borders of Handsworth). 

They quickly established themselves as one of the best teams in the area and won their first trophy, the Birmingham Senior Cup in 1880. 

Their initial games were played at Aston Park, moving to Perry Barr in 1876. After 11 years at that venue they moved again to the Aston Lower Grounds, which was named by the supporters, Villa Park. Here they have remained ever since.


Team of 1899
Villa Park was opened in 1897, it was sited on an old fairground / amusement park area of a Jacobean stately home called Aston Hall. The area had also previously been used as a fishpond and kitchen garden belonging to the halls owner, Sir Thomas Holte

At its inception, it was of an oval shaped design with a concrete cycle track and a cinder running track encircling the football playing area. It could accommodate a crowd of 40,000 which is not a dissimilar figure to the current all seated capacity. 

Most of the crowd would be on foot, many of which would stand on the cycling track, but there were a few seats available in the upper areas on each side. The infamous Holte End (named after the land owner) at one end of the ground, was then known as the Church End.


Villa Park in 1907

In 1911, negotiations were made to purchase the land where the ground was situated for £8,250, along with the car park and office buildings for £1,500. The carriage drive and bowling green on the site were also bought for £2,000. These purchases helped make up the very ambitious plans of club director, Frederick Rinder. His idea was to increase the capacity to 120,000 but this was thwarted by the outbreak of the 1st World War.

 

The running track was removed in 1914, along with the cycling track another 8 years later. The bowling green survived and was a feature of the ground up until 1966, when it was removed to make way for increased car parking at the World Cup matches to be played at the venue. Villa Park actually hosted 3 matches during the World Cup and also 4 in Euro ’96.

The last ever final of the European Cup Winners Cup was staged at Villa Park, when Lazio were successful beating Real Mallorca 2-1. The ground has also hosted England international matches, the first being in 1899 to the most recent in 2005 - the 1st English ground to host internationals in 3 different centuries.

The first Rugby League test series was won at the ground when, in 1909 Great Britain beat the touring Australian Kangaroos 6-5 and it was used for many athletics and cycling events prior to these facilities being removed. 

In later years, the facility has also housed music concerts with many famous acts playing, including Bruce Springsteen and Duran Duran. In 1984 it also played host to American evangelist Billy Graham.


Villa Park Panorama

Highest attendance, 76,588 - 2 March 1946, FA Cup tie v Derby County.
Lowest attendance recorded, 2,900 - 13 February 1915, League v Bradford City.

BIRMINGHAM CITY FC


Birmingham City are currently members of the English Championship. In their 135 year history they have played at four grounds, with some interesting stories surrounding them.

Birmingham City were formed in 1875 as Small Heath Alliance where the club members decided that the club colours would be blue and white. This remains the same to this day with the club affectionately known as “the Blues” and their supporters referred to as “Bluenoses”. 

Small Heath FC in the early 1890’s
Over their existence they have also been known as Small Heath, Birmingham FC and since 1943 by their current name.

They initially played their home matches on a piece of waste ground off Arthur Street in Bordesley Green, soon moving to an enclosed, fenced off field in Ladypool Road, Sparkbrook. Here they were able to charge for ground entrance but a year later they again moved to a site next to Muntz Street. 

Known as Coventry Road at the time of the club's occupation, the ground has gone into the folklore of the club now being usually referred to as Muntz Street. From 1877, here they stayed for the best part of 30 years.


Covered terrace at Coventry Road/Muntz Street

Coventry Road / Muntz Street seemed to have been quite a substantial ground. Bordered on 2 sides by farmland, it was a field surrounded by terracing sufficient to hold 10,000 people. They built a wooden stand and increased the size of the terracing, giving a capacity of 30,000 but this was still not sufficient for the needs of a club in that boom era of football.

The playing area was notoriously bad with crevices and even potholes in the pitch. There are stories of Birmingham City being offered and accepting bribes to switch cup ties away from the ground, whenever they were drawn at home. In most cases however, when moving the matches to the opponents venues, the Blues still managed to win.


OS map showing Coventry Road/Muntz Street
It was clear that they had to find a new home after they played a home match against local rivals Aston Villa, where several thousand spectators scaled the walls and broke down turnstiles to get into the ground for a 1st Division match.

A new site was identified back in Bordesley Green, less than a mile away from Coventry Road, where a brickworks once operated. Here the land sloped steeply, but despite this, in less than 12 months a new stadium emerged ready for its opening on Boxing Day 1906 with a match against Middlesborough

The weather very nearly put a stop to this first ever match at St Andrews, with many volunteers being needed to help clear snow from the pitch and the terraces.    
 

During the 2nd World War, the Chief Constable of Police ordered the closure of the ground because of the danger from air raids. It was the only ground to be thus closed and was only re-opened after the matter was referred to Parliament. 

Ironically, it was badly damaged during the Birmingham Blitz, with the main stand being burned down, but the fact that a fireman mistook water for petrol probably did not help!

St Andrews is reputed to have been cursed by gypsies who were known to have camped nearby to the site prior to the ground being built. To this end, in the 1990’s the club’s manager of the time, Barry Fry, investigated ways of lifting the curse from the ground. One suggested method was for him to urinate in all 4 corners of the pitch -  whether this action was successful is debatable, but it has to be noted that fairly soon after he was removed from his post.





St Andrews has changed very much in the last few years.  Now an all-seater stadium housing approx. 30,000, it is a far cry from the vast, desolate, desperate arena, which used to hold up to 75,000 people in days gone by.

A more partisan crowd than the “Bluenoses”, when in the throws of a promotion or relegation battle would be almost impossible to find.



WEST BROMWICH ALBION FC

West Bromwich Albion FC was formed in 1878 as the Strollers and up until their move to their current home at the Hawthorns in 1900, they had played at 5 different sites.

 


Originally formed by workers from George Salter’s Spring Works, West Bromwich Albion's first ground was at Coopers Hill. This was situated in the town between Walsall Street and Beeches Road and is now the site of St Philip’s Church.


Team from 1888 during tenancy 
at Stoney Lane (copyright expired)
Between 1879 and 1881 they also played some matches at Dartmouth Park, alternating with Cooper’s Hill. At the time the Globe Inn public house on Reform Street was used for changing room facilities.

For one season 1881-1882, WBA moved to Bunn’s Field, which also went under the name of the Birches. This was to be a distinct improvement on their previous facilities being an enclosed ground, enabling the club to charge an entrance fee for the first time. The Birches held a capacity crowd of between 1500 and 2000.


Towards the end of the 19th century, the popularity of football was ever growing and at the end of 1882 it was obvious that the club needed to find more substantial premises. West Bromwich Dartmouth Cricket Club was approached with a request to rent their Four Acres ground and here the Albion stayed for 3 further years, but were only allowed to play football there on Saturdays and Mondays. 

During this tenancy, their record attendance was 16,393 for an FA Cup tie against Blackburn, but with the further popularity increase in football throughout the late 19th century, very soon they were looking for an even larger facility. Four Acres was located at what is now Park Crescent, just off Seagar Street.


The Albion team from 1901-02
In 1885, the Albion moved to a ground in Stoney Lane, where they stayed for 15 years. This era turned out to be the most successful period in the clubs' history where they managed to win the FA Cup twice and were also beaten finalists on another 3 occasions. Here they built a large wooden grandstand that affectionately went by the name of “Noah’s Ark” which seated 2000 people. 

The record attendance at Stoney Lane was 20,977, set in 1895 for a cup tie against local rivals Wolverhampton Wanderers, which the Albion won 1-0. In April 1900, the club played their last match here before moving to The Hawthorns which has been their home ever since.

Their previous 5 homes were close to the centre of West Bromwich, but in order to gain more space, they signed an initial 14 year lease with the Sandwell Park Colliery Company, for a site located on the outskirts of the town, skirting the borders with Handsworth (it can actually be argued, that the ground is not in West Bromwich at all). 

This new site was named after the many hawthorn bushes that had to be cleared when building was taking place and they even had to ford a stream that ran across the grounds to create a pitch. 

The transformation to a football ground took place in months and in the first match in September 1900, they drew with Derby County. For the move, “Noah’s Ark” had been taken down at Stoney Lane and re-erected at the Hawthorns, but sadly it only lasted another 4 years before being burned down, ironically on Bonfire night (5th November 1904). 

Team from 1920
At the end of their first season at the new ground however, the club suffered the indignity of being relegated from the 1st Division of the Football League for the first time.

The Hawthorns, having a record attendance of 64,815 set in March 1937 for a cup tie against Arsenal, has changed beyond all recognition over the years. 

Now with an all-seated capacity of 26,500, it is a first class stadium for a club now fully established back in the Premier League of English football. 

The stadium holds the distinction of being at the highest altitude of any English football league ground at 551 feet above sea level. 

In the early 1920’s, it staged 2 England full internationals and was used for athletics meetings in its early years. There was also a cricket match held there in the late 1970's between India and Pakistan.

The Hawthorns taken in 2009