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What are your favourite stadiums ever?


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18 minutes ago, JohnM said:

A lot of the points, especially the nostalgia thing, I get. Sure. Not so sure about the carcinogenic smoke, though. 

I was a frequent regular at Station Road between 1957 for around ten years. Sure, semi finals and internationals attracted big crowds, but generally, the place was never more than about 1/4 full.  

In my opinion, the soullessness of modern stadiums is the same soullessness exhibited the modern, well-insulated, light, bright, centrally-heated home. 

Without diverting the topic any further (and I'll stop after this. 👍) for me the issue is how to get more paying fans  through the turnstiles. 

Fair points, all. 

I just feel, with the closure of so many traditional grounds (whatever state they were in by the time the bulldozers turned up), rugby league has lost at least some of its character. At the top end, it can now seem like a sport played at soccer stadia.

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Central park

Watersheddings( though not if you asked me at the time)

Widerspool

SFS

Parramatta old ground

Headingley

The Willows

Hilton park

The Boulevard 

Odsal

Old Wembley 

some fond and some bad memories of all of those grounds. 

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On 08/09/2020 at 12:27, Robin Evans said:

I was at dewsbury on the opening game of the season one Sunday night. It was several degrees below and it snowed/sleet down for most of the game.

At the final hooter the players proper legged it back up the tunnel. That was the coldest I've ever been at a game and that includes winter games at both Hull grounds of Old.

Crown Flatt or Owl Lane Robin?

Sport, amongst other things, is a dream-world offering escape from harsh reality and the disturbing prospect of change.

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6 hours ago, JohnM said:

I understand that this whole topic is about people's favourite stadiums, ancient and modern. I'm am nevertheless, surprised at the the fondness for old-time stadiums and the distain toward modern ones. 

Replace "stadiums" by "homes" and people would be horrified if posters expressed nostalgia for outside wcs, no insulation,  condensation, open coal fires, no damp proof courses, gas lights, tuberculosis and more.... 😊

That's simple to explain. As we all get older we also become less impressionable, hence the fondness for past grounds.

Sport, amongst other things, is a dream-world offering escape from harsh reality and the disturbing prospect of change.

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I really like the Harvey Haddon Stadium when I visited it; enjoyed a couple of December evening games from the open end at Post Office Road; disliked the Don Valley Stadium intensely; was amazed that the Athletic Grounds was actually a professional stadium; loved the old fashioned comforts of Craven Park (Barrow) where you could go to the gents whilst still watching the game; never really liked Headingley in most of its guises in the last 45 years; and still believe that I enjoyed standing week in week out on the Long Stand (open terrace) at Crown Flatt, even though it was a dump.

Sport, amongst other things, is a dream-world offering escape from harsh reality and the disturbing prospect of change.

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2 hours ago, Scubby said:

Was blown away when I went to Suncorp stadium. To think that is primarily a RL stadium is amazing. What a venue.

In the UK, something about seeing that full bank at Central Park.

Never been to a stadium to touch Suncorp it as to be seen to belive it. 

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54 minutes ago, Blind side johnny said:

I really like the Harvey Haddon Stadium when I visited it; enjoyed a couple of December evening games from the open end at Post Office Road; disliked the Don Valley Stadium intensely; was amazed that the Athletic Grounds was actually a professional stadium; loved the old fashioned comforts of Craven Park (Barrow) where you could go to the gents whilst still watching the game; never really liked Headingley in most of its guises in the last 45 years; and still believe that I enjoyed standing week in week out on the Long Stand (open terrace) at Crown Flatt, even though it was a dump.

When i went to Dewsbury in the early Seventies to watch Fev i always expected that stand to be finished with a roof but it never was lol, new ground is a better one with a good atmosphere. 

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8 hours ago, Sir Kevin Sinfield said:

A terrible stadium 

thats why it was every sportsmans dream to play at the old wembley - like everything else they cant leave it alone and it has to be improved mainly by ripping its soul out and sanitizing it 

see you later undertaker - in a while necrophile 

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I forgot to mention that I actually like the Keepmoat Stadium a lot. Comfortable, decent atmosphere, good playing surface, good food and drink outlets and great viewing angles all round.

Sport, amongst other things, is a dream-world offering escape from harsh reality and the disturbing prospect of change.

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1 hour ago, Blind side johnny said:

I forgot to mention that I actually like the Keepmoat Stadium a lot. Comfortable, decent atmosphere, good playing surface, good food and drink outlets and great viewing angles all round.

That’s true. I’ve enjoyed watching football there a couple of times, I can’t think of a time I’ve been for Rugby League though. 

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1 hour ago, Blind side johnny said:

I forgot to mention that I actually like the Keepmoat Stadium a lot. Comfortable, decent atmosphere, good playing surface, good food and drink outlets and great viewing angles all round.

Yeah it's a nice stadium and I didn't expect to like it much before I went, of course the game I went to was a really memorable one. Hull v Leeds in the Cup semi-final with a packed house. Fantastic atmosphere, I will always remember Jamie Shaul's length of the field try. 

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11 hours ago, MADREDNIGE said:

Never been to a stadium to touch Suncorp it as to be seen to belive it. 

Agree that it is a great stadium having been there many times for SOO matches.

Probably my best stadium experience was being part of a crowd of 108,000 people at the Sydney Olympic Stadium for the 1999 GF.

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9 hours ago, The Hallucinating Goose said:

Yeah it's a nice stadium and I didn't expect to like it much before I went, of course the game I went to was a really memorable one. Hull v Leeds in the Cup semi-final with a packed house. Fantastic atmosphere, I will always remember Jamie Shaul's length of the field try. 

Any stadium at or near capacity will generally produce a good atmosphere , especially when the vast majority of fans in it are emotionally attached to one of the teams , and especially when there is a large % following each team , not forgetting the nature of the game , ie , what was at stake , win , go to a final , lose and go home 

So to all those suggesting fans go just for entertainment or that ' away ' fans don't matter you just don't ' get it ' 

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3 minutes ago, GUBRATS said:

Any stadium at or near capacity will generally produce a good atmosphere , especially when the vast majority of fans in it are emotionally attached to one of the teams , and especially when there is a large % following each team , not forgetting the nature of the game , ie , what was at stake , win , go to a final , lose and go home 

So to all those suggesting fans go just for entertainment or that ' away ' fans don't matter you just don't ' get it ' 

Yeah this is essentially what I was saying in my post before the one you quoted. Using Huddersfield as an example. A lot of people think the atmosphere is incredibly flat and unemotional and it maybe is when there is just 5,000 in on a drizzly Thursday night but a lot of us have been there for England games with a packed house on a bright weekend afternoon and the atmosphere is fantastic. Great ground in the right setting! 

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31 minutes ago, The Hallucinating Goose said:

Yeah this is essentially what I was saying in my post before the one you quoted. Using Huddersfield as an example. A lot of people think the atmosphere is incredibly flat and unemotional and it maybe is when there is just 5,000 in on a drizzly Thursday night but a lot of us have been there for England games with a packed house on a bright weekend afternoon and the atmosphere is fantastic. Great ground in the right setting! 

Huddersfield is a fabulous ground when full, probably the best game ive seen live (2003 ccsf) was there and the atmosphere was amazing.

 

conversely one of the most disappointing atmospheres Ive experienced was a sold out Telstra stadium for a SOO game, it was really ‘flat’ give me a packed Headingley any day

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15 hours ago, GUBRATS said:

Any stadium at or near capacity will generally produce a good atmosphere , especially when the vast majority of fans in it are emotionally attached to one of the teams , and especially when there is a large % following each team , not forgetting the nature of the game , ie , what was at stake , win , go to a final , lose and go home 

So to all those suggesting fans go just for entertainment or that ' away ' fans don't matter you just don't ' get it ' 

The first few times people go to a game it may just be for entertainment, however to keep them coming back there has to be an emotional involvement, otherwise they move on to the next form of entertainment. I agree that away fans really matter when you want to generate an atmosphere, although I’m not a big soccer guy I have been to a couple of Vancouver Whitecaps games and the ones with the electric atmosphere are always games against Seattle and Portland because in each case around 3-4000 raucous travelling fans generates the atmosphere and gets the sleepy Vancouverites to wake up and respond. Similarly the few times I have been to NHL games the atmosphere usually sucks, because only Calgary, Edmonton, Winnipeg and Toronto actually have any travelling support (actually not usually travelling far, Vancouver is usually their new home but they always support their home town team).

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Out of the new ones there's only the Halliwell Jones that i look forward to going to, although since the direct train and railway club have now gone it's nowhere near the occasion it used to be which was a great away day out regardless of the result, it's still a good do but has been diluted a bit.

The others, including my own teams offer zero excitement to me if i'm honest, soulless concrete bowls that have taken away the atmosphere of places like Knowsley road, The Boulevard (even if it was a scary one) etc, they are boring places that are not a patch on their predecessors.

The old grounds were ace though i'm more inclined to mention the smaller ones as we didn't have many opportunities to visit the 'big grounds' unless we got a lucrative cup draw, i enjoyed places like Mclaren field, the various Trafford/Chorley Borough homes and Gillford park at Carlisle, i think it helped that back then Huddersfield had a sizeable away following by their league's standard which made the away games more enjoyable.

I also enjoyed trips to the Willows, which is strange as they were our bogey side at the time and we hardly ever played well or got a result there but it had a rugby league ground feel to the place.

And as Meast has mentioned the trips to Cougar park in the mid-90's were something else due to the rivalry, and was the fixture that both Huddersfield and Keighley fans looked out for 1st, it's unimaginable nowadays to think there was 5-6000 rammed in to the place with half of it away support, likewise when we hosted them, great days which were sadly taken away by the powers that be.

 

 

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14 minutes ago, daz39 said:

Out of the new ones there's only the Halliwell Jones that i look forward to going to, although since the direct train and railway club have now gone it's nowhere near the occasion it used to be which was a great away day out regardless of the result, it's still a good do but has been diluted a bit.

The others, including my own teams offer zero excitement to me if i'm honest, soulless concrete bowls that have taken away the atmosphere of places like Knowsley road, The Boulevard (even if it was a scary one) etc, they are boring places that are not a patch on their predecessors.

The old grounds were ace though i'm more inclined to mention the smaller ones as we didn't have many opportunities to visit the 'big grounds' unless we got a lucrative cup draw, i enjoyed places like Mclaren field, the various Trafford/Chorley Borough homes and Gillford park at Carlisle, i think it helped that back then Huddersfield had a sizeable away following by their league's standard which made the away games more enjoyable.

I also enjoyed trips to the Willows, which is strange as they were our bogey side at the time and we hardly ever played well or got a result there but it had a rugby league ground feel to the place.

And as Meast has mentioned the trips to Cougar park in the mid-90's were something else due to the rivalry, and was the fixture that both Huddersfield and Keighley fans looked out for 1st, it's unimaginable nowadays to think there was 5-6000 rammed in to the place with half of it away support, likewise when we hosted them, great days which were sadly taken away by the powers that be.

 

 

I used to be a Sales Manager for Bass Brewers, and Keighley Cougars was one of my accounts at the time of Cougarmania, so I went to a few games. The atmosphere was unbelievable, whipped up by Mick O' Neill on the tannoy. Very different to my visits in the 70s as a Featherstone supporter. Mick and Mike Smith really got their Club buzzing, but the knock back on promotion was a hammer blow for them.

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