vastar iner
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Post by vastar iner on Aug 6, 2020 17:49:40 GMT 1
The Arsenal Ground.
Home to Alderney. Arguably the least successful football team in the world, given that, since their first match in 1905, they have only ever won 3 times.
To be fair, competition is limited to the Island Games (their biggest win coming in the 15th place play-off in 2017, a 3-0 triumph over the Falklands), last year's one-off Island Games replacement in Anglesey (beating Orkney 2-1 in the 7th place play-off in a very truncated tournament), and the Muratti Vase.
The Muratti is a competition between Guernsey, Jersey, and Alderney. These days, Guernsey and Jersey alternate annually to beat Alderney in a semi-final before they play each other in the final. But until World War 2 the bye to the final was shared by all three. And, in 1920, one of the years where Alderney got the benefit of the bye, they beat Guernsey 1-0. Their only match win in the contest and their only Vase success.
They've only scored 3 goals in the Vase since 2008 - and two of those came in a 9-2 defeat to Jersey...although in 2017 they were seconds away from a draw with the same side.
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vastar iner
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Post by vastar iner on Aug 21, 2020 16:23:42 GMT 1
This one hosted League football in the 1890s. The Northolme, still home of Gainsborough Trinity FC, one of the more easily forgotten former members of the laughably branded EFL. This has been their ground since 1884. The Holy Blues were elected to the League in 1896, after a good run of results in the Midland League, but never finished higher than 6th in the Second Division, only finished in the top half of the division 3 times in 16 goes, and their second re-election campaign was their last. Gallingly, they were voted out in favour of fierce rivals Lincoln City. They're now three tiers below the League.
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vastar iner
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Post by vastar iner on Aug 26, 2020 16:16:26 GMT 1
Slightly weird one as the entrance is built across a corner rather than straight on. Hartsdown Park. Musical links as last year's shirt sponsors were The Libertines, and Bad Manners sponsored them a couple of decades ago.
^ not sure Buster Bloodvessel ever made the first team squad
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Post by Panda on Aug 26, 2020 23:24:51 GMT 1
Alderney also play in Guernsey's Priaulx League, where they finished 2nd in the last completed season.
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Post by Panda on Aug 26, 2020 23:26:43 GMT 1
This one hosted League football in the 1890s. The Northolme, still home of Gainsborough Trinity FC
We're going there for a preseason friendly in a couple of weeks if we're not still in the FA Cup.
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vastar iner
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Post by vastar iner on Aug 26, 2020 23:52:21 GMT 1
Alderney also play in Guernsey's Priaulx League, where they finished 2nd in the last completed season. It's technically a different team - a club side (the Nomads) as opposed to a "national" side. People from anywhere can play for the Nomads. But not for Alderney.
(Similarly there is a Monaco national side, albeit at an even lower level.)
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Post by o on Aug 27, 2020 9:03:36 GMT 1
I'd heard somewhere that Gainsborough were looking to move to a new ground, not sure if that is still in the pipeline? Also, my PE teacher at secondary school George Burton, used to play for Gainsborough Trinity, I'm thinking he was either a centre forward or a centre half!
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vastar iner
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Post by vastar iner on Sept 4, 2020 16:06:34 GMT 1
A view from Karl Liebknecht Street to the Sheriff Stadium, Tiraspol. The local politicos would like to make this the national stadium of Transnistria, but as the only country that recognizes its independence is Russia (plus also Abkhazia and South Ossetia), it's never likely to be. It has however hosted the odd game for Moldova; secession only goes so far when it comes to UEFA tournaments, so the regular tenants (Sheriff Tiraspol) play in, and often win, the Moldovan league (18 titles since 2000), and even the Moldovan side has played there, although not since 2013.
Sheriff incidentally is a company that controls much of the Transnistrian economy. President Shevchuk of Transnistria tried to end its monopoly in 2012. In 2017, Shevchuk fled to "proper" Moldova and is wanted for fraud charges. President Shevchuk was not the Kremlin candidate for presidency when elected in 2011. The current president (Krasnoselsky) is not either. Indeed he could be categorized as a Tsarist. Fun stuff.
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vastar iner
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Post by vastar iner on Sept 22, 2020 9:53:50 GMT 1
Got bored with the Leaning Tower (ooh, it's leaning over, wow, how amazing that I've travelled all this way to see negligent surveying), so effed off to see the Stadio Romeo Anconetani, home of AC Pisa 1909. Despite the name they only date back to 2009, after I took this pic, but they are the spiritual successor of former Pisano clubs Pisa Sporting Club and Pisa Calcio. The ground is really really close to the Tower, it's almost just across the road.
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vastar iner
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Post by vastar iner on Oct 4, 2020 12:56:08 GMT 1
Another one in the series of Football Grounds In British Overseas Territories With Confusing Names. I wonder if Stoke (or Northwich) fans get a twinge if they go past this. The Victoria Stadium in Gibraltar, on Winston Churchill Avenue, next to the runway. All of the club sides in Gibraltar play here, but UEFA barred the national side from using it, on the spurious grounds that the Government of Gibraltar owned it (the real reason being Spain was using a veto because the land between the Rock and the current border is land that Spain claims was never part of the 1714 session, and the ground is on it).
That however was sidestepped when the GFA bought the ground in 2017, and it's now used for internationals, including the recent 1-0 win over San Marino in the Nations Cup. The GFA dates back to 1895, one of the oldest in the world.
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vastar iner
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Post by vastar iner on Oct 20, 2020 11:02:23 GMT 1
To get around the UEFA ban, the Gibraltar FA proposed uprating this place to international standard. The Europa Sports Park is almost at the tip of the peninsula, so no possible Spanish claim of encroachment on neutral territory. But it did raise the ire of environmentalists; given the Straits are a chokepoint, Gibraltar is a vital resource for migrating birds both on sea and land (on this visit I could turn around and watch dozens of Cory's shearwaters returning to the Med from the Atlantic).
So in the end the GFA just bought the Victoria. And the place is now used for rugby and cricket mostly. Lots of indoor space for 5-a-side and gymnastics.
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Post by Panda on Oct 26, 2020 22:55:32 GMT 1
Grounds I've visited: Riverside Stadium (Middlesbrough) Ayresome Park (old Middlesbrough) Old Trafford (Manchester United) Wembley (old and new versions - for American football) Mount Pleasant (Marske United) Station Road (Norton & Stockton Ancients) Central Avenue (Billingham Synthonia) Broughton Road (Stokesley) King George V Ground (Guisborough Town) Ainderby Road (Northallerton Town) Ralph Gardner Park (North Shields) Gurney Street (New Marske) Green Lane (Redcar Athletic) Ironworks Road (Tow Law Town) Hillheads Park (Whitley Bay) Teesdale Park (Thornaby) Frenchfields Park (Penrith) Bedford Terrace (Billingham Town) Belle Vue Park (old Consett) Turnbull Ground (Whitby Town) New Ferens Park (Durham City) Boldon Community Association Sports Ground (Jarrow Roofing) Brewery Field (Spennymoor Town) Brinkburn Road (Darlington Railway Athletic) Moore Lane Park (Newton Aycliffe) Seaham Town Park (Seaham Red Star) Heritage Park (Bishop Auckland) Darlington Road (West Auckland Town) Eastbourne Sports Complex (Darlington Cleveland Bridge) Eppleton Colliery Welfare Ground Dean Street (Shildon) R&R Ice Cream Stadium (Bedale Town) Welfare Park (Horden Colliery Welfare) Earls Orchard (Richmond Town) Bishopton Road West (old version) (Stockton Town) Grangetown Youth & Community Centre (Grangetown Boys Club) Metcalfe Park (Wolviston) Eden Lane (Peterlee Town) Meadow Park (Sunderland Ryhope CA) Ryhope Recreation Park (Ryhope Colliery Welfare) Hebburn Sports & Social Ground (Hebburn Town) Welfare Ground (Brandon United) Mariners Park (South Shields) Manse Lane (Knaresborough Town) Hornby Park (Seaton Carew) West Terrace (Esh Winning) Sir Tom Cowie Millfield (Crook Town) Station View (Harrogate Railway Athletic) Ings Lane (Tadcaster Albion) Gillford Park (Celtic Nation, now home to Carlisle City) Leeds Road (Glasshoughton Welfare) Beechnut Lane (Pontefract Collieries) Fitzwilliam Stadium (Hemsworth Miners Welfare) Sheerien Park (Athersley Recreation) Mill Lane (Pickering Town) Wheatley Park (Garforth Town) Welfare Park (Easington Colliery) Beechfield Park (Coxhoe Athletic) Hall Lane (Willington) Parkside Road (Kendal Town) Flaxley Road Ground (Selby Town) Welfare Ground (Armthorpe Welfare) Victory Park (Barnoldswick Town) Queensgate (Bridlington Town) Coach Lane (Team Northumbria) Westfield Lane (Frickley Athletic) Doctor Pit Welfare Park (Bedlington Terriers) Sam Smith's Park (Newcastle Benfield) Haig Avenue (Southport) Croft Park (Blyth Spartans) Belle Vue (Wakefield) Wellington Road (Dunston UTS) Victoria Pleasure Grounds (Goole) Belle View (new Consett) Bracken Edge (Yorkshire Amateur) Woodhorn Lane (Ashington) Moor Park (Chester-le-Street Town) Craik Park (Morpeth Town) St. James' Park (Newcastle United) Mallorie Park (Ripon City) Perth Green (Jarrow) Victoria Park (Hartlepool United) Glebe Sports Ground (Whickham) Whitley Park (West Allotment Celtic) Throstle Nest (Farsley Celtic) Kingsley Park (Ryton & Crawcrook Albion) Giant Axe (Lancaster City) Ingfield (Ossett Town, now Ossett United) Nissan Sports Complex (Washington) Booth Street (Congleton Town) Bishopton Road West (new version) (Stockton Town) London Stadium (West Ham United - for World Athletics Championships) Flamingo Land Stadium (Scarborough Athletic) Anchor Ground (Darwen) Linnets Stadium (Runcorn Linnets) Larges Lane (Bracknell Town) City Ground (Winchester City) Sir Halley Stewart Playing Fields (Spalding United) Coach & Horses Ground (Sheffield) Christchurch Meadows (Belper Town) The Linden Club (Cleethorpes Town) Forest Town Stadium (AFC Mansfield) St. Giles Road (Brighouse Town) Grounsell Park (Heaton Stannington) Moat Ground (Gresley Rovers) Shawe View (Trafford) Holt House (Colne) Rossett Park (Marine) Harry Williams Riverside Stadium (Ramsbottom United) Butcher's Arms Ground (Droylsden) Borough Park (Workington) Bracken Moor (Stocksbridge Park Steels) St. James Park (Brackley Town)
My updated list. I think I'm up to 114.
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vastar iner
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Post by vastar iner on Nov 1, 2020 18:37:42 GMT 1
To complete a colonial trilogy, this is the Municipal La Línea, the home of Real Balompédica Linense. Just on the Spanish side of the Spain-Gibraltar border.
The name is the clue, the town was built up after in 1713, after the Treaty of Utrecht allocated Gibraltar to the freshly-minted United Kingdom. Spain built a counter-wall to cut Gibraltar off from Spain and a town sprung up around it. Seemed natural to call it The Border.
The ground though is the result of Franco closing the border in 1967. Unemployment in La Línea went from something like 8% to 30% overnight. Many Linenses worked in Gib and all of them lost their jobs. Which they did not get back when the border re-opened because the Gibraltarians had either worked out how to muddle through, or found Moroccans to do it cheaper.
To placate the locals, Franco promised a football ground and international football. And this is the result. The international football followed in 1968, although the Linenses probably hoped for more attractive opposition than Finland, whom Spain steamrollered 6-0. And they had to wait until 1984 for a second match (a loss to Yugoslavia in a friendly). They still await a third, although Andorra beat Liechtenstein 1-0 here in 2018. The glamour.
The local team - nicknamed Balona - punched above their weight in the 1950s, with a few seasons in the second division (southern section). Their best finish was 9th of 15 clubs in 1951. Which is better than it sounds - such was the tightness of the division that they were 3 points off a promotion play-off. They are currently one of the 80 clubs in the regionalized Segunda B (third tier).
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vastar iner
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Post by vastar iner on Nov 17, 2020 12:33:02 GMT 1
This one doesn't exist any more. The İnönü Stadium, home of Istanbul side Beşiktaş (and formerly also home to Galatasaray and Fenerbahçe). They knocked it down a few years ago to build a new stadium on the same site. You can see it from the Bosporus, it's very close to the water.
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Post by vastar iner on Nov 21, 2020 20:51:47 GMT 1
Nordkapp Flerbrukshall, a very northern pitch. Up at Honnigsvåg, north of 70 north, and there's an indoor pitch in the building behind. Maybe Norway should do a Bolivia. Have their matches up at Tromsø or Hammerfest where their players would be used to the conditions...
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Post by o on Nov 22, 2020 17:07:35 GMT 1
Forgot to add this if the photo works... This time last year! Bugger not working at the moment. It was going to be Tromso’s Alfheim Stadion. Will see if Sam has some diff photos that might upload on this crappy site. Managed to get 1/6 on!
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Post by vastar iner on Dec 4, 2020 17:10:05 GMT 1
Outside and inside. Ai Weiwei's (and some other blokes') Bird's Nest Stadium was the athletics centrepiece for the 2008 Olympic Games - and also hosted the football final. It has held a few football matches, including the Supercoppa Italia, and some prestige friendlies, none of which is more prestigious than Beijing Guoan having the honour of hosting Birmingham City in 2010 (Garry O'Connor scoring the only goal of the game).
Guoan means "country peace" yet the team's nickname translates as "Imperial Guards". They were meant to move in permanently after the Games, but got leery at playing in an 80k+ bowl when their average crowd barely made five figures.
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Post by vastar iner on Dec 17, 2020 21:32:19 GMT 1
So where do Beijing Guoan normally play?
The Workers' Stadium, generally known as Gong Ti (short for Gongren Tiyuchang, literally meaning working-people body-raise-area), a fairly grotty and mundane Communist athletics bowl of no architectural merit. Built in 1959 to celebrate the 10th anniversary of Mao's reign. One of the Ten Great Buildings that year, including a few hotels, a couple of museums, and the useless parliament.
The teams are a bit less exotic than the greens of Guoan. It's West Ham v Spurs. Barclays Trophy 2009. Saw it by accident. After they finished Guoan took on Hull City. Oh, the glamour. What was quite interesting was the local crowd's reaction to play. They're not very good at reading a game. E.g. if there were a 3 on 2 break, they would basically just sit on their hands, unmoved; until the ball got into the area, when they all got excited. Conversely they would also get excited if someone got into the area despite being surrounded by defenders. It's as if they were all taught at school that the area was the danger zone.
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Post by vastar iner on Feb 7, 2021 23:30:07 GMT 1
Argentine football philosophy in the seventies was divided into two camps; the Menottistas, followers of 1978 WC-winning coach Cesar Menotti, who believed football was the Beautiful Game and passing was the way forward. And the Bilardistas, followers of 1986 WC-winning coach Carlos Bilardo, who believed in winning by any means necessary.
Bilardo made his name with Estudiantes de la Plata, who played here, the Estadio Jorge Luis Hirschi, right in the middle of La Plata (and sharing a road with the Casa Curutchet), an hour's bus-ride from Buenos Aires. Estudiantes were so notorious that after one Intercontinental Cup match two of their players were imprisoned, and the idea of the European champions playing the South American was dropped, as European teams refused to play the Bilardista teams that were coming to the fore.
In 2005 the ground was condemned and they had to share with Gimnasia y Esgrima (Gym & Fencing) and later Quilmes. I got it towards the end of its very extensive renovation, in 2018; despite its apparent unfinished status it was ready for action in 2019.
Hirschi incidentally was doctor of the town, born in 1889, who was member number 44 of Estudiantes and played in their 1913 Championship side, when Argentine football was still strictly amateur. In 1927 he became club president and started work on a proper set of stands at the ground, which the club had used since 1905. It was named after him in 1970 - hitherto it had been called "Estadio de 1 y 57", after the roads which it fronted.
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Post by vastar iner on Feb 22, 2021 12:30:21 GMT 1
Looking like an abandoned non-league ground, this puts into perspective the strength of the club game in English and Scottish football. This is the Viktoria, and it is the home ground of Viktoria Žižkov, a Czech second division side, who as recently as 2001 were winning the Czech cup and in 2003 finishing 3rd. But they've not been top flight since 2012.
They're also part of a Czech novel/film from the 1930s, Muži v offsidu (Men Offside), a sort of Romeo-and-Juliet story between a supporter of Slavia Prague and Viktoria. Žiźkov was swallowed up by an expanding Prague in the early twenties, it's an easy ground to reach.
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