Valley Parade, Bradford.

 The following pictures were the result of my car having repairs done in a garage and me having more time than I expected to pass. I wasn't expecting to be in Bradford more than a couple of hours but my car proved more stubborn than expected and luckily I had my camera and the day wasn't too bad to pass time on.

Valley Parade is a sports stadium in the Manningham district of Bradford, West Yorkshire. Home of Bradford City since 1903 the stadium was originally the home ground of Manningham FC, the first champions of the then Northern Union(rugby league) who opened it on the site of a quarry in 1886. The ground has also been home to Bradford (Park Avenue) and Bradford Bulls RLFC during it's history.

The stadium was largely unchanged from 1908 until it became a 3 sided ground in 1952 when the Midland Road Stand was demolished due to faults found in the foundations. The problems forced the Midland Road (East) Stand to be rebuilt twice and the stadium remained largely a 3 sided ground until 1966 when the East Stand was finally completed.

The Main (JCT 600) Stand which was the scene of one of the worst disasters to occur at a sporting event on the 11th May 1985 when fire swept through the stand resulting in the deaths of 56 people and injuries to a further 265. Since the disaster the stadium has been completely rebuilt.

These pictures were taken on the 10th December 2022 with a Nikon d3300 camera, clicking any image should open a link in another window to the version on Clickasnap.

The Stadium is all seater and has a capacity of 25,136 spread across 5 stands the north western corner stand being separate to the Kop and JCT 600 stands.

The Main (West) Stand

The JCT 600 Stand also known as the Main Stand is the largest stand with a capacity of 9,004, it's unusual in that the stand only runs 3/4 of the length of the pitch, with offices occupying the last 1/4 of the pitch area. This stand also has a small uncovered area near to the offices.

The Midland Road (East) Stand

The Midland Road is a single tier stand with a capacity of 4,500, around the turn of the Millenium former chairman Geoffrey Richmond had a plan to add a second tier to the stand increasing capacity in the East Stand to 10,000. This stand is used to house away fans.

The Kop

I think this picture shows what traditional British Football Stadiums are about, having been built up around the housing that surrounds the stadium. The Kop Stand towering above the terraced housing on Rear Rock Terrace. I'm led to believe that the reason the main stand is oddly shaped is because of the right to light the houses on the eastern side of the ground enjoy prevent major development.

The Kop is the 2nd largest stand at Valley parade holding 7,492, unusually for Kop stands in British Football it has 2 tiers, traditionally Kop stands only having a single tier.

TL Dallas (South) Stand

The TL Dallas South Stand is the smallest stand at Valley Parade holding 1,840 people, it is 2 tiered and hemmed in by Holywell Ash Lane making further expansion unlikely. It is dwarfed by the rest of the stands at the ground and traditionally housing away fans.

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Camp Nou, Barcelona Artwork.

 The Spotify Camp Nou Stadium is a football ground in Spain and home to Barcelona FC. Opened in 1957 the Camp Nou is currently undergoing a major refurbishment which will see capacity expanded to 105,000 form it's current 99,354. The new stadium is expected to be completed sometime in 2026 at a cost of 1.73 billion euro's.

This artwork was completed by me in July 2023 based on a pictures I took in June 2022.

Clicking the image will open a link in another window to a higher resolution, un-watermarked version of the picture.

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International Football Stadiums of the United Kingdom, Northern Ireland and Republic of Ireland.

 These artworks were inspired by the joint bid by England, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland and Republic of Ireland to host the Euro 2028 finals. They were put together for a short video collection - slideshow.

I am currently only sharing these pictures on here, copies are available to purchase from EBay UK if you would like sized 6x4.

Aviva Stadium, Dublin
Home stadium of the Republic of Ireland football and Irish Rugby Union teams, it was opened on the 14th May 2010 on the site of the former stadium Lansdowne Road. It has a capacity of 51700 and cost 410million Euro's to construct.

Hampden Park, Glasgow
Home to the Scotland international football team and until recently Queen's Park FC, Hampden Park opened on the 31st October 1903 with Queens Park beating Celtic 1-0 in a league game. The first Scotland International played at Hampden was against England on the 7th April 1906 when a then world record crowd of 102741 watched Scotland Beat England 2-1. The stadium was extensively renovated in the late 1990's and now has a capacity of 51866. The largest crowd ever to watch a match at Hampden was 149547 for a British Home Championship fixture with Scotland beating England 3-1.

Millennium Stadium, Cardiff
Home to the Wales Rugby Union team and occasionally hosting the Wales Football team now, the Millennium Stadium was opened on the 26th June 1999 at a cost of £121 million. It has a capacity of 73931 and the record attendance for a Wales Football international at the stadium is 73062 on the 19th November 2003 in a Euro 2004 Play Off that saw Wales lose 1-0 to Russia.

Wembley Stadium, London.
England's national football stadium, Wembley was completely rebuilt in the early 2000's and re-opened on the 9th March 2007. The cost was £789million and the rebuilt stadium has a capacity of 90000. The stadium also host's a number of football finals, the Rugby League Challenge Cup final and internationals. The record crowd at the new Wembley is 89874 for the 2008 FA Cup final between Cardiff and Portsmouth.

Windsor Park, Belfast
Home of the Northern Ireland Football team, Windsor Park opened in 1905 and at its largest could hold over 60000 spectators. Renovations in the 1990's and 2015 have led to the stadium now having a capacity of  just 18500. Despite being the home stadium of potential co-host's Northern Ireland, Windsor Park is unlikely to feature in Euro 2028 as UEFA hosting rules require all stadiums to have at a capacity of at least 30000. Hopes are being pinned on a new stadium at Casement Park to meet this requirement. The record attendance at Windsor Park was for a 1-1 draw between Ireland and England in the 1956 British Home Championship. 

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All the pictures remain the copyright of Colin Green.

Old School English Football Grounds.

 I recently completed a set of 4 artworks showing Griffin Park former home ground of Brentford FC based on some drone pictures I took around the stadium. I enjoyed creating the artworks and wanted to see if I could create some more based on old style English Football stadiums, I searched for a selection of images that were public domain and created the following artworks.

Due to the rules on Clickasnap I can not share the un-watermarked versions there, so if clicking any image below it will open a link in another window to my sports grounds artworks album on Clickasnap, all the images there are my own creation based on original photo's by me.

Newcastle United, St James Park
Home stadium on the Magpies, St James Park has seen much development
since it last looked like this in the Late 1980's

Reading FC, Elm Park
Opened in 1896 Elm Park was the home stadium of Reading until they moved
to the Madejski Stadium in 1998. Housing now occupies the site
of the stadium.

Brighton and Hove Albion, Goldstone Ground
Sold off in controversial circumstances the Goldstone Ground was
home to Brighton and Hove Albion from 1902 until 1997. The site is now
a retail park.

Chelsea FC, Stamford Bridge
Another stadium that is much changed since it looked like this in
the late 1980's. Originally opened by the London Athletic Club in 1877,
Stamford Bridge did not play host to Chelsea until the club was formed
in 1905. It is the only stadium they have played home games in to date.

Millwall FC, The Den
Now often known as the Old Den, Cold Blow Lane was the home ground of Millwall
from 1910 until 1993. The site is now occupied by housing.

Coventry City, Highfield Road
Home ground of Coventry City, Highfield Road was opened in 1899
and hosted it's final game on the 30th April 2005. Housing now occupies
the site of the stadium.

Oxford United, Manor Ground
Home stadium of Oxford United from 1925 until 2001, when the final match
saw Oxford draw 1-1 with Port Vale. The site is now occupied by the
Manor Hospital.

Manchester City, Maine Road
Home to City from 1923 until 11th May 2003 when the final match saw
Southampton win 1-0. The site was redeveloped in to housing after the
stadiums closure.

Arsenal, Highbury
The Arsenal Stadium was more commonly known as Highbury during it's
use as the home ground of Arsenal FC. Occupied by the Gunners from 1913
when the club moved from South London until 2006 when the stadium was
redeveloped in to housing.

Leicester City, Filbert Street
Opened in 1891 as the home ground of Leicester Fosse, it became the home ground
of the Foxes in 1919 when the club changed their name to City. It continued to be
the home stadium until 2003 when the club relocated to the Walkers Stadium, renamed
the King Power Stadium in 2011. Part of the site in now occupied by
student accommodation.

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Griffin Park, Brentford.

Not a set of football pics but a set of art works created by me of the former Griffin Park Football Stadium, Home of Brentford Football Club until 2020. 

Griffin Park opened on the 1st September 1904 with a 1-1 draw between Brentford and Plymouth Argyle, and closed after the final game between Brentford "B" and Erith Town in the London Senior Cup. The record attendance for a Brentford FC match at the ground was 38678 fora FA Cup 6th round tie against Leicester City in the February 1949, Brentford lost 2-0.

The ground has featured athletics, tennis, Gaelic Football and baseball in the early part of it's history, and was the home ground of the London Broncos Rugby League team from 2002 until 2006.

Other notes of interest about Griffin Park is the stadium being underneath the flight path of Heathrow Airport and the roof of the stands being used as giant advertising boards, and a pub being situated on each corner of the ground.

The pictures are based on aerial shots of the ground from each corner in 2019, the artwork was created by me in 2020 for someone that had requested art style prints of the ground for their Brentford supporting daughter.

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All the pictures remain the copyright of Colin Green.

Scottish Premiership Football Stadiums Season 2021/22

 My latest upload to YouTube is a slideshow of artworks of Scottish Premiership Football Stadiums season 2021 / 22 created by me, based on public domain images. The stadiums are featured in team alphabetical order in the video

The images below feature in the video, although below they are in stadium name order.

Almondvale Stadium opened in 1995 as the home of Livingston FC, it has
a current capacity of 9512. The record attendance was 10112 v Rangers Fc
on the 27 October 2001.

Celtic moved to their current location in 1892, the stadium has been modernised
several times and now has a capacity of 60411. The record attendance is
83500 v Rangers on the 1 January 1938.

Dens Park is the home ground of Dundee FC and opened in 1899. It is just 200yds
from the ground of city rivals Dundee United. The capacity is 11775 and the record
attendance 43024 was v Rangers on 7 February 1953.

Hibernian FC play at Easter Road, Edinburgh which has a current
capacity of 20421. The largest crowd ever was 65860 on the 2 January 1950
when they played city rivals Hearts of Midlothian. They played their first
game here in 1893.

Fir Park has been the home of Motherwell FC since 1895 and has a capacity of 13677.
The largest crowd ever was 35632 for a game against Rangers on 12 March 1952.

Rangers FC have played at Ibrox Park, changed to Ibrox Stadium in
1997, since 1899 and the current capacity is 50817. The record attendance which is
also the largest ever for a domestic football match in Britain is 118567 for a league
fixture against Old Firm Rivals Celtic on the 2 January 1939.

McDiarmid Park in Pert is the home stadium of
St Johnstone FC. The capacity is 10696 and since opening in 1989
the record attendance is 10721 v Rangers on the 26 February 1991.

Pittodrie Stadium has been the home to Aberdeen FC since September 1899,
there are plans to replace the ground with a new build stadium but this has
been planned for at least 15 years. The current capacity is 20866 and the
record attendance is 45061 v Hearts of Midlothian 13 March 1954.

St Mirren Park hosted it's first game on the 31 January 2009, built to replace
the previous home of Love Street the ground has a capacity of 8023. The
record attendance is 7732 v Dundee United on the 26 May 2019. Their best
at Love Street was 47438.

Dundee United have called their home Tannadice Park since 1909 and the record
attendance is  28000 v Barcelona on the 16 November 1966. This is unlikely
to ever be beaten as the current capacity is around half that at 14223.

Tynecastle Park has a current capacity of 19852 and has been home to Hearts
of Midlothian since 1886. The record attendance is 53396 for a Scottish
Cup game against Rangers FC on the 13 February 1932.

Victoria Park opened in 1929 as the home ground of Ross County FC.
It has been the most northerly ground in senior British football since being
elected to Scottish Football League Division Three in 1994. The
current Capacity is 6541 and the record attendance was set
v Rangers in the Scottish Cup on the 28 February 1966.

I thought that because Celtic had the biggest home ground in Scotland and had massive support that they would also feature mostly in the other teams record attendances, surprisingly they were only the highest attendance once for a game against Rangers, Rangers were highest 7 times with Hearts of Midlothian featuring twice. Dundee United had the only non domestic highest for a game against Barcelona.

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ABC of Sports Trading Cards (1927)

 Ogden's A.B.C of sport is a set of trading cards released in 1927, the set featured 25 cards with the letters X and Z combined in to 1 card to complete the set. The cards feature a number of sports popular in the 120's which perhaps would not get a look in today. I combined the pictures in to a YouTube slideshow which can be seen below with each individual image shown below that with what I personally consider would be the modern alternative sport featured.

Angling.. Modern alternatives would include Athletics, Archery,
American and Aussie Rules Football.

Boxing.. Modern alternatives Basketball, Badminton,
Baseball and Base Jumping.

Cricket.. Alternatives now would include Cycling or Canoeing

Deerstalking Hunting would be frowned upon now and 
replaced by Darts, Diving, Dressage, Decathlon.

Elk (Hunting) which like deerstalking would be frowned
upon, alternatives would include Eventing or the modern 
E-Sports.

Football or Rugger as its referred to here. Football being the more
common version of "Football" now that would feature for F. Other
sports include Fencing and Figure Skating.

Golf.. Go-Karting, Gaelic Football and Gymnastics.

Hockey then and probably now but alternatives may
include Heptathlon, Hand Ball and High Jump.

Imbecile (House hunter), not sure why that's thought of as sporting, 
and until I read the the summary I thought the picture was referring
to a gambler. Proper sports would be featured here now probably
including Ice Hockey, Ironman or Ice Dancing.

Jockey, still a tough and respected sporting activity. Alternatives
for J, Javelin, Judo, and Jogging.

Kudos, sporting alternatives for modern cards include Kabaddi,
Karate and Kick Boxing.

Lacrosse, Lude is the only modern I could think of

Motorist, whilst not sporting Motor Sport is, Other alternatives could
include Mountain Biking and Miniature Golf.

Nap (Card Player), Not sure if I class cards as sporting but that's
my opinion only, Netball or Ninjitsu today.

Ounder of Otters, not sure what an ounder is, at a guess it's someone
who forcers otters out of their secure places to be hunted. Not my idea
of sport, alternative sports to feature in a modern set Open Water Swimming
and One Day Cricket which has a number of differences to Five Day Cricket
to allow it to be different. 

Pinger or Ponger is a term for Ping Pong Player. Still popular today,
alternatives for inclusion are Pigeon Racing, Pole Vault, Power Boat Racing
and Pole Dancing. 

Quoiter, refers to a player in the game of Quoits a game where the
players toss rings at a stake trying to land the ring with the stake
through the middle. Quidditch now, as much as I don't like or understand
Harry Potter people who do tell me this is now a proper sport
played by teams.

Runner, the modern sport choices would probably be Rugby League which
 I much prefer to the other code and which I put here because instead of the
other code as it's first World Cup was in 1954, a full 33 years before the alternative.

Ski-er, I'd go with any of Surfing, Sailing, Softball or Sumo
in a modern set.

Tennis is still a world wide popular sport now, Track and Field, Tug of War.
Ten Pin Bowling and Triathlon could all feature now.

Umpire, still needed and still vilified when decisions go against
the team they are not in favour of. Sporting alternatives for now
Ultimate a type of Frisbee sport, and a number of underwater
competitive sports.

Villikins, Despite googling it I have no idea what it's supposed to be.
 I'd offer up Volleyball and Vault Gymnastics for a modern set.

Wrestling would probably still occupy this card, Weightlifting,
Water Polo and Wheelchair versions of Basketball, Football
or Rugby may also feature.

X here refers to ex champions of various sports, actual sports that
could feature Xare and Xing yi Quan. I had to google those and Xare is 
popular in South America and played with a racket and ball in a
trinquete. Xing yi Quan is a Chinese martial art.

Yachting features for Y and Yo-Yo is the only alternative sport-
pastime I can think of. - - Z is for Zest, I'm guessing that's for enthusiasm
for sport in general. Google again offered some alternatives which were
Zourkhaneh a Iranian Martial art and Zui Quan which
is drunken Boxing.

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