In a hotel in Turkey there was this pathetic attempt at a club in the basement. It wasn't exactly a "lads holiday" destination so it was mainly families (I was there with a mate though). We went down there for fun, and I made an odd drunk decision to do some rather seductive dancing with a middle-aged man in front of his teenage daughter. It was really, really, really funny.
Bradford Bulls rugby league stadium Odsal is cut in a natural valley and you stand on the banks. That's probably the strangest i've been too. The flats/hotel in the corner of Leyton Orients ground is an odd feature.
Ayresome Park (spelling) the former home of Middlesbrough. Unique barrel vaulted roof on the main stand. We also went top of the league there for the first time with a Keegan goal....and it was fffin freezing.
Surprised no-one's mentioned Brisbane Road. A block of flats in each corner, wtf? You'd think they'd at least have made enough out of that development to be able to replace the asbestos roof on the stands.
Withdean Stadium in Brighton. I had my school sports day there every year... Then it was Brighton and Hove Albions ground.
Here are some pics of the Kenilworth Road away fans' experience, for those who haven't done it. Enter here: please log in to view this image Climb up here: please log in to view this image Admire the view: please log in to view this image
Kenilworth Road is very odd. I always thought Portsmouth played in the back garden of a mock tudor house. The reality is not so romantic
I went to watch ESTAC (Troyes) play against Dijon in March as I had several days on holiday in the town. The stadium is extremely modern but the stands are entered via huge, precast concrete staircases that lead up from the concourse. The strangest thing was that the 24 k stadium was only about 1/3 full for what was effectively a derby match and a band of drummers thumped continually throughout the match even though the quality of football was woeful and almost devoid of excitement. Troyes won 2-0 but I don't know how they managed to score their goals as they couldn't string three passes together all evening. Staggering to think that Michael Svenson was signed from this side as the standard of play I watched from the current team was like 2nd division football in this country and not one where you would have expected to find a cultured player like the Swede. The curious think about the team was that no one in the town seemed to follow ESTAC but when I met up with a group of English speaking football fans they were all complaining about how PSG were ruining the game in their country. A for worse situation than with man City, I feel , especially as the PSG owner also have some hold on football on television.
I attended a cup game in Heraklion on Crete many years ago to watch a match between Omilos Filathlon Irakleiou otherwise known as OFI and a side from Greece. The stadium was no more than a concrete terraced bowl with no seats, a little like a Roman amphitheatre where you had to sit on the steps. As we went in on buying our ticket we were given a square of polystyrene to use as a seat and at half time boys came round selling little bags of sunflower seeds. Sadly the old stadium has gone as a new one was built for the 2004 Olympic games.
behold Satndard Liege's Stade de Sclessin extreme vertiginous-ness, and note the extreme drop from the third tier. please log in to view this image
The Dell. The only football ground I was ever thrown out of by the Police is Arbroath, which to my embarrassment is called Gayfield.
In 1976 I went from Soton to Brisbane Road to see Aberdeen play in the Anglo-Scottish cup on a Wednesday evening. The Orient keeper was called Jackson, and he was on the same tube going to the game - you wouldn`t see that these days.
The Kourion in Cyprus, I played there a few times about 30 years ago. please log in to view this image
If we're going to include Greek amphitheatres, I'm going to stretch to this one. Brilliant place to watch: please log in to view this image The Minack, in Cornwall.
