CARDIFF CITY FC

In their 115 year existence, Cardiff City Football Club has played at three different grounds within the confines of the Welsh capital city.

Early History and Sophia Gardens

Cardiff City Football Club was formed in 1899 as the Riverside Association Football Club, predominantly as a means of keeping the playing members of their Cricket Club fit during the winter months with what was classed as “healthy exercise.”

Set up after numerous failed attempts by Bristolian lithographic artist Bartley Wilson, the club’s early colours were an attractive chocolate and amber quartered shirt.

Their early fixtures were made up from playing friendly games against other local clubs, generally at the Sophia Gardens Recreation Ground, but soon enough after formation (in 1900) they joined the Cardiff and District League starting out on their competitive future. 

Their home at Sophia Gardens was shared along with many other clubs in the Welsh capital who used the facilities for cricket in the summer and either football or rugby during the winter months.

In 1902 they merged with Riverside Albion and once Cardiff was granted city status in 1905, the club put in a request to change their name to Cardiff City. This was denied however as it was deemed that they were not playing at a high enough level to warrant the change or honour. 

In 1907 the club moved to the South Wales Amateur League and soon after their name change request was duly granted.

Local interest in the club soon began to rise, to the degree that they had the opportunity to join the newly formed Southern League Second Division, but they had to decline due to the lack of facilities available at their Sophia Gardens home.

Located next to the River Taff in the centre of the city, Sophia Gardens is now best known as the home to Glamorgan County Cricket Club and is where the SWALEC Stadium and Sport Wales National centre are both located.

Ninian Park - Grange End

Ninian Park – Early Years

In an attempt to raise funds to enable a move away from Sophia Gardens, the club arranged lucrative friendly matches with the likes of Crystal Palace, Bristol City and Middlesbrough as opponents and after a terrific local response Bartley Wilson began negotiations with the Bute Estate who owned the majority of the area in and around Cardiff. The Bute Estate offered a plot of waste land adjacent to Sloper Road and with the assistance of the Cardiff Corporation, Ninian Park came into existence.

Originally intended to be called Sloper Park, the ground was eventually named after Lt.-Col. Lord Ninian Edward Crichton-Stuart, who offered financial assistance with the move from the Riverside. 

The new stadium was opened in 1910 and soon after Cardiff City was in a position to accept the offer of membership from the Southern League.

Being located on a former rubbish dump, in its early years a few players suffered injuries by pieces of glass and other items protruding up through the grass. However the biggest shock of all happened on a very wet and muddy day when allegedly an old bedstead suddenly appeared in one of the goalmouths.

Ninian Park – Latter Day 

The Grandstand at Ninian Park

Affectionately known as the “Old Lady” and the “Bearpit”, in its later years the stadium featured four stands: the Spar Family stand (formerly known as the Canton End), the John Smith’s Grange End, the Popular Bank (also known as the “Bob Bank”) and the main Grandstand which housed the dressing rooms etc.

In 1946/7 a supporter fell through the original roof of the Grange End during a game against Bristol City. The hole in the roof actually remained until the stand was demolished in the late 1970s.

 

Over the years, Ninian Park became the premier football ground in Wales, hosting many international matches along with numerous other events. The ground also staged the show-jumping events for the 1958 British Empire and Commonwealth Games based in Cardiff.
Bob Marley played a concert at the stadium in 1976 which took place in a torrential downpour, while six years later Pope John Paul II held a rally during his tour of the UK.

It was also used for Rugby League internationals and as the home for the Cardiff City Blue Dragons RLFC between 1981-84.

Its record crowd was achieved in October 1959 when 62,634 spectators attended a Wales v England international match. At the end of its use, the capacity was approx 22,000.

As is/was the case in many UK football stadia, the ground was served by its own railway station which was based on the Cardiff City line.

Cardiff City Stadium

After 99 years, Cardiff City left Ninian Park and moved the short distance of approx a quarter of a mile, to the new Cardiff City Stadium. 

Located on the site of the old Cardiff (Leckwith Athletics) Stadium, it was opened in July 2009. With a current capacity in excess of 26,000 spectators, foundations are in place to easily increase this figure should the need ever arise.

The impressive stadium is fully enclosed with three similar one-tiered sides along with the Grandstand that has a second level that overlaps the rear of the lower tier. Outside of the stadium are the gates from Ninian Park and beside these gates is a plaque commemorating legendary former Celtic and Scotland manager Jock Stein, who passed away at the old ground in 1985 after a Wales v Scotland international fixture.

The Stereophonics playing live at the stadium.

After winning the Football League Championship in 2012/13, Cardiff City gained promotion and started the new season as members of The Premier League. It was the first time they had played in the top flight since the early 1960s, but sadly was short lived and relegation found them back in the Championship.

However the club now has a 21st century style home which befits their ambitions and they look forward to future success.

ARSENAL FC

Originally founded south of the River Thames, Arsenal FC moved to North London to become London’s most successful football club.

Club Origin 

The Arsenal Football Club that we know today has come a long way from the club originally formed in 1886. They started out playing under the name of Dial Square, formed by workers at the Royal Arsenal in Woolwich, South-East London. Shortly afterwards they were renamed Royal Arsenal.

After turning professional in 1891, they again changed their name to Woolwich Arsenal and 2 years later became the first southern club to become members of the Football League.

The Invicta Ground

Initially playing on a field located in the Isle of Dogs and using pitches on Plumstead Common and the Sportsman Ground on Plumstead Marshes, the club soon moved into an adjacent field known as the Manor Field. 

Becoming the Manor Ground, it was renowned for being notoriously muddy and had the feature of an open sewer running along the southern side of the pitch. Being not much more than a pig field, the ground supported the most basic of playing and spectator facilities. It was soon clear however, that a new home would have to be found to accommodate the 1,000 or so people regularly attending home matches at the venue.

In 1890, the club moved across the road to the Invicta Ground where they stayed for 3 years. Being equipped with a stand, a row of terracing and changing rooms, the ground was a significant step up from their previous tenancy at the Manor Ground.

Upon joining the Football League in 1893, the initial plan was to continue to use the Invicta Ground for their home matches, until the landlord, George Weaver (a mineral water magnate), decided to try and cash in on the club’s rise in fortunes and increase the annual rent from £200 to £350. The club was unable to afford this rise and promptly returned to their previous home at the Manor Ground.

The Invicta Ground is now covered by housing around the areas of Mineral Street and Hector Street. Some of the old terracing can still be seen in the gardens of houses located in Hector Street.

The Manor Ground

Upon the club’s return to the Manor Ground, they were able to purchase the ground by making available a share issue and then started the task to build a main stand and banks of terracing. Here they stayed for the next 20 years, except for a period in 1895 when the ground was closed for 5 weeks after crowd trouble at a match against Burton Wanderers.

In 1910, Woolwich Arsenal faced bankruptcy and was bought out by Fulham owner Sir Henry Norris (a property magnate). After a failed attempt to merge the two clubs, Norris successfully managed to move the club right across the city to North London in 1913, where they set up home at the greatly loved Arsenal Stadium in Highbury.

Because of their re-location, the club dropped the Woolwich prefix from their name, becoming Arsenal FC.

Today the Manor Ground is covered by an industrial estate, the area of the old ground being in the vicinity of Nathan Way, Griffin Manor Way and Hadden Road.

The North Bank Stand – Arsenal Stadium (Highbury) Image via Wikipedia

Arsenal Stadium

Widely thought of and known as Highbury, Arsenal Stadium was home to the club from September 1913 until May 2006. Designed and built by legendary football stadium architect Archibald Leitch, it was originally made up with a main stand surrounded by 3 banks of terracing. 

In its hey-day, it held a capacity of up to 60,000 spectators. With many facelifts over the years, the ground could still accommodate 57,000 people into the early 1990’s, but with the onset of the Taylor Report and all-seated stadia, this figure dropped considerably toward the onset of the new millennium.

In 2000, a proposal was made to build a new 60,000+ capacity stadium in Ashburton Grove, located less than a mile away from Highbury and after a few hiccoughs along the way, the new ground was ready for use at the start of the 2006-7 season.

The Emirates Stadium

Named after the airline company, the Emirates Stadium is the 5th largest football stadium in the United Kingdom and the 3rd largest sports ground in London (after Wembley and Twickenham). 

Officially opened by Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh in October 2006, the whole project cost upwards of £470 million of which the club offset some of the bank loans used by issuing bonds.

Now owning one of the most impressive Premier League grounds with facilities to match, Arsenal FC have moved on a long way since their humble origin on the other side of the River Thames down in South-East London.

The hugely impressive Emirates Stadium (Image via Wikipedia)