By FOTTV at October 06, 2011 18:34
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With television coverage of football across the world having increased to such a great extent over the years, we are more familiar with some of our historic soccer stadiums than ever. In England, all Premiership matches are available as live games or as extended highlights so we can pretty much visualise the look of grounds such as Old Trafford, Anfield or White Hart Lane without even being there.
However, there are many grounds across the country that are no less historic but because the viewer`s attention is inevitably drawn to the Premier League, they aren`t so well known to the neutral supporter.
Bury`s Gigg Lane is a fine example of this and it is one of the oldest grounds in England, with football having been played there since 1885. Gigg Lane is just a few miles away from Old Trafford but the two grounds couldn`t be more different these days.
While Bury`s ground has an all seater capacity of just 11,840, Old Trafford can accomodate just under 76,000 spectators. Old Trafford opened in 1909 and at the time wouldn`t have been too dissimilar from its near neighbour but as Manchester United`s success became a global phenomenon, the need for such a massive stadium was obvious.
In many ways, the atmosphere at Gigg Lane is no less memorable and there are other historic aspects too. Bury`s ground was one of the earliest to have permanent floodlights which were installed in 1953 although floodlit games have been played here as far back as 1889 - before Old Trafford was even built!
Since Preston North End began their slide down the English league ladder, they are featured even less as far as TV is concerned. However, Preston were once one of the strongest sides in world football and they had a stadium worthy of such success.
Having been built way back in 1860, Preston`s Deepdale ground is the oldest continually used site for league football in the world. These days, Deepade has an all seated capacity of 23,408 although the record crowd here stands at 42,684 for a match against Arsenal in 1938.
Of the new, purpose built grounds that have emerged in recent years, Arsenal`s Emirates Stadium is one of the most impressive. Arsenal as a club had outgrown their Highbury ground due to their continued success in the Premier League and at one point had played their Champions League matches at Wembley in order to cope with bigger crowds.
The Emirates however has a capacity of over 60,000 and such issues are very much a thing of the past.
In contrast, just a few miles down the road from Arsenal`s purpose built ground sits Brisbane Road, home of Leyton Orient. With a capacity of just over 9,000, this is one of the smallest grounds around and it`s no wonder that Orient owner Barry Hearn is concerned at being dwarfed by the giant Olympic Stadium in Stratford which will be home to West Ham from 2013.
Whether they`re on TV or not, there are some impressive grounds across the country and a good way to find out about them is with a stadium tour. By taking such a tour and staying at Old Trafford hotels you can really get behind the scenes and see these great grounds from a player`s perspective.
By Guest blogger
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