Stadium Perspectives Part 1

Your humble author here has just arrived back in the states (Just in time for Springfield #porchfest). A three country tour of 8 stadiums was definitely the stuff dreams were made of. As impressive as each stadium was, the generosity of our hosts and lessons learned were even bigger than the stands. We'll forever be grateful to each of the clubs who let us in on how these cathedrals work on game day. As we plot out our own community hub and home pitch, let's take a look at a few of the lessons learned from some of these amazing grounds.

Our first stop was also our first match. It just happened to be a UEFA #championsleague match between Celtic Football Club and FC Shakhtar Donetsk . For a 1-1 draw this match was incredibly exciting. While the hosts couldn't find the win they desperately needed they did impress us with great hospitality and friendliness in the stands. The most amazing thing about visiting Celtic Park is how 60,000 people can get into the stadium without very many long lines. It felt very Wonka Factory-like as the walk up seemed unusually light and then to get into sight of the pitch with tens of thousands of singing fans was quite the surprise in a good way. Credit multiple gates around the entire stadium and a walking crowd that doesn't need to park. The lack of parking at stadium around the world is inspiring. I wish we had the transportation infrastructure to make loads parking unnecessary in the states.

Our first stadium stop in England was at Chelsea Football Club 's Stamford Bridge. We should also mentioned that we stayed several nights in the very nice and central Copthorne Hotel Chelsea by Millennium Hotels and Resorts . Our hotel was a perfect hub and just a minute walk to Fulham Broadway station. If you're a Chelsea fan, and you're visiting London, you won't go wrong to stay here. Our tour of Stamford Bridge by Nigel from Johannesburg was comprehensive and it started in the museum. The many trophies in the trophy case of this legendary club was the anchor of a really strong museum and an ode to the extensive winning history of this club. If you have time we highly recommend a visit. First built for the London Athletic Club in 1877, Stamford Bridge has been under perpetual improvement over the years. There are many interesting aspects to Stamford Bridge, but one of the most interesting is that it isn't in Chelsea at all, but in Fulham. Of the many innovations we've seen that we were really interested in was beer tokens you could purchase before the match. Because you can't drink anywhere where you can see the pitch (FA rules), fans must race down to the concourse, purchase a beer, and presumably, finish it before returning to their seats. There isn't a lot of time to do this, but if you purchase your token before the game you save a lot of time as opposed to making a transaction during the half. This really works to keep the beer flowing, the punters satisfied, and everyone back in their seat before kick off. Cheers to that!

We shouldn't pick favorites because all of our hosts were extraordinary but Brentford Football Club 's tour of their new Gtech Community Stadium was my favorite. The club's legendary attorney (Nity), and CEO (Jon) were so gracious to give us a comprehensive tour of this new stadium situated on a very small piece of land between two major rail lines. This stadium was so impressive, and so matched some of our ambitions that we are forever grateful to get to see it firsthand and to learn the many stories about how it came to be. It was the smallest stadium we visited with a capacity of just over 17,000 (we are shooting for 15,000). It is immaculate (yes I know it is new, but still, there isn't a speck of dirt anywhere on the grounds). As we toured (the day before a home match) we met with many stadium workers who were cleaning and prepping for the match. All who the CEO seemed to know and all who smiled back and said, "You all right Jon?"

I knew Jon was cool as I had previously seen a tour of Brentford's previous stadium on BBC Studios ' People Just Do Nothing. We were way more behaved. I digress.

When we say community, we mean this in several ways. The first and only Sensory Room we visited was at Brentford Gtech Community Stadium. Making sure the entire community comes along is an ethos of ours and of Brentford FC. Brentford is also the least expensive ticket in all of the Premier League making it accessible to Brentford's thriving and diverse community.

Tottenham Hotspur Football Club 's new stadium is phenomenal. It is a great example of what 1.2 billion pounds sterling can buy you. There are a record NINE levels of VIP hospitality. Some of those are so opulent you don't really realize you're at a football stadium. This stadium also had a lot of firsts. First one with an interchangeable NFL pitch, NFL locker rooms, a glass walkway called the Dare, and even an attraction called the Edge, where you can repel the side of the stadium!

While Tottenham is a very, very high end stadium. Many of the club level seats are heated with USB chargers. With 62,850 seats, you can hopefully find one that suits you.

In part 2 we'll cover three stadiums under construction! Come back and enjoy.

Cheers,

Tony from Sporting JAX