The Smallest Premier League Stadiums of All-Time
G'day Hive! This one was a fun one to write up. The Premier League has some of the greatest stadiums in world football so when coming across smaller stadium capacities it can be somewhat of a surprise.
Among the smallest stadiums in Premier League history includes one that had a German bomb dropped on it, and another that has the only Rolex clock on a football ground in the world. Let's take a look around the grounds.
6. Brentford Community Stadium, Brentford
Club: Brentford FC
Opened: 2020
Capacity: 17,250
Brentford played out of Griffin Park since 1904 and was the only stadium in the English football league to have a pub on each corner of the ground. The club attempted to move grounds as far back as 1973 and finally moved to the modern and brand new Brentford Community Stadium in 2020.
Under the ambitious Matthew Benham the club has transformed itself into a Premier League team earning promotion in 2021. The club was playing in League Two as recent as 2008 and were on the cusp of bankruptcy. Benham transformed the club using analytics to buy undervalued player and selling some on for more than 10-times their value.
Brentford Community Stadium is small by Premier League standards but much larger than the 12,300 Griffin Park. It's been designed with the potential to expand the stadium to 25,000 in the future, but it doesn't have a pub in each corner.
Brentford Community Stadium is part of wider rejuvenation efforts in West London.
Source: Photo by AndyScott shared under Creative Commons (CC) license.
5. Bloomfield Road, Blackpool
Club: Blackpool FC
Opened: 1899
Capacity: 16,900
Blackpool played in the Premier League for the first time in their history in the 2010-11 season but would only last one season in the top flight. Bloomfield Road was the only Premier League stadium not to have undersoil heating which led to the postponement of matches.
Bloomfield Road had a party atmosphere in the Premier League thanks to Blackpool's popularity as a seaside hesitation. In it's heyday the stadium hosted crowds of almost 40,000 in the 1950's. In fact the Spion Kop stand had a capacity of about 16,000 itself which is practically the entire capacity of the stadium today.
The 1985 Bradford City stadium fire resulted in the outlawing of wooden grandstands and that meant two of Bloomfield Road's stands had to be closed. The club attempting to sell off the stadium which never eventuated but over the years it's capacity has declined. The temporary East Stand that was erected for their one and only Premier League season remains in place till this day.
The seaside resort town of Blackpool always created a party atmosphere.
Source: Photo by Terry Robinson shared under Creative Commons (CC) license.
4. The Dell, Southampton
Club: Southampton FC
Opened: 1898
Capacity: 15,200
Before Southampton's move to Saint Mary's Stadium in 2001, the club called The Dell home for 103 years. The stadium made history as it became the first in England to have permanent floodlighting installed. The ground underwent four expansions; the one in 1929 needed after a fire which destroyed the East Stand as a result of a dropped cigarette.
In 1940 a German bomb fell on the stadium during World War 2 which created an 18-foot crater in one of the penalty areas. In 1941 an explosion at the ground also cause a major fire which was sparked from stored munitions.
Prior to the Taylor Report the stadium had held crowds of over 30,000. By the 1993-94 Premier League season The Dell would have the lowest capacity stadium in top flight football. Five apartment blocks now occupy the grounds The Dell once sat on, ground that was unsuitable for major expansion works and the reason for the move to Saint Mary's.
The seaside resort town of Blackpool always created a party atmosphere.
Source: Photo by Colin Smith shared under Creative Commons (CC) license.
... I'll be back tomorrow with the final three smallest stadiums in Premier League history. How low can we go?
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Wolfgang Sport started in 2017 as a way to connect my passion for American and British sports. Today it's evolved into a blockchain sports blog pushing the boundaries into the crypto world and embracing Web3 technologies.
The Dell was a great little stadium. It might not have got many inside it but the atmosphere was intense. Just ask Sir Alex Ferguson and his United team, they used to hate playing there!
So true, it was like a bad omen for them playing there. They certainly punched above their weight and it was great seeing someone like Callum Wilson turn out for them
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Wow, I never knew that the Dell was that small. It's a pity old grounds like the Dell and Highbury had to give way for bigger stadiums to fill the shareholders pockets. To be fair though, a bigger stadium does mean that more fans can go to matches, so I suppose that is positive in fairness.
Yep that's true. Those smaller grounds I just feel can deliver more passion than the bigger stadiums and it also has an underdog-like appeal too. I'd love to know how it feels to live in those houses and apartments that are practically in the same street as some stadiums
Ya definitely, just feels more authentic with real down to earth working class fans and no "prawn sandwiches" as Roy Keane would say!
brentford🙌🏾