County Ground, Swindon

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County Ground

Location	Swindon, Wiltshire, SN1 2ED
Opened	1896
Owner	Swindon Borough Council
Surface	Grass (110 x 70 yards)
Tenants	Swindon Town F.C. (1896-present)
Capacity	15,728

The County Ground is a football stadium located near the town centre of Swindon, England. It is home to Swindon Town Football Club and has been for over a century.

The current capacity is 15,728, all-seated.^[1]

A record attendance of 32,000 was set on 15 January, 1972, against Arsenal in the 3rd round of the FA Cup.

To the north of the football stadium is Swindon Cricket Club. Their pitch is also named The County Ground.

1 History
2 Future Developments
3 Current Stands
4 Other uses
5 References

[edit] History

Swindon Town the football club of joe aldus have been playing at the County Ground since 1896. They played their games on the site of the adjacent cricket pitch also called the County Ground from 1893 until the ground opened.^[2]

Thomas Arkell of Arkell's Brewery donated £300 to finance the construction of a stand on what was then known as the 'Wiltshire County Ground', this investment was enough to begin development of a purpose built football ground. Since its original construction, the ground has been periodically updated with new features or fittings. A cover on the Shrivenham Road side was erected in 1932, followed by the current roof at the Town End. This cost £4,300, which was raised by the Supporters Club, and was opened on 27 August 1938 by local MP, W.W. Wakefield.^[3]

The War Department took over the ground in 1940, where for a while POWs were housed in huts placed on the pitch. For this the club received compensation of £4,570 in 1945.^[3]

The addition of floodlights in 1951 at a cost of £350, gave Swindon the honour of being the first League club to do so. These were first tried out v Bristol City on 2nd April 1951 beating Arsenal by six months. These original set of lights were supplemented by lights on both side stand roofs, which were sufficient for the County Ground to stage its first floodlit league match on 29th February 1956 v Millwall. (7 days after Fratton Park became the 1st ground to stage a floodlit league fixture). The present pylons date from 1960.^[3]

Additions included the building of the "new" all-seater Arkell's (or North) stand in 1971 (on the site of the original) and following the Hillsborough disaster; the County Ground was converted to an all-seater stadium beginning with the addition of extra seating in front of the North Stand and the building of a sponsored stand (originally the Intel Stand, now the Nationwide Stand) in the early 90s. The Nationwide Stand replaced the Shrivenham Road enclosure, a two-tiered terrace. During the stand's history, a fire broke out on the top tier making the upper area unsafe. During its later years of use, the upper tier was used by Television Cameras and Crowd monitoring only.

The County Ground and adjacent Athletics ground

The County Ground is also the only football stadium in the world with the most prestigious name in watch making acting as its timekeeper - Rolex, who's famous logo adorns the clock on the Stratton Bank stand.^[4]

The ground itself is on land owned by Swindon Borough Council to whom the club pay rent. Swindon have in the past considered a move to a club owned stadium to generate more revenue, but have not had the financial backing to do so. In 2006 a redevelopment campaign for the County Ground began,^[5] with the club and TrustSTFC (the supporters' trust) raising a petition to 'Save Our Home' urging the Borough Council to "facilitate the redevelopment of the stadium and do everything they can to keep the club within the Borough"^[6] including the proposed upgrading of the adjacent Cricket Club to County standard and Athletic Club to Olympic standard.

[edit] Future Developments

Swindon Town's new owners realeased a 10 point plan after they took over the club in January 2008 outlining future plans for the County Ground. In this 10 point plan various upgrades to the current ground were noted. The club plans to replace all of the seats that are not red and white and replace them with red and white seas to unify the seating and make the stadium look more up to date. The club also plan to improve disabled access and improve the playing surface. The current owners of Swindon Town also hope to commence with a ground redevelopment at the County Ground site or new Stadium for Swindon Town, hence the reasons for minor modifications until a new stadium becomes a reality.

[edit] Current Stands

[edit] Arkell's Stand

The Arkells stand in july 2007. The entire away support was kept in the Stratton Bank of this occasion

Located on the north side of pitch. The majority of this stand was constructed in 1971, with extra seating being added near the pitch-side in the late 80s/ Early 90s. At either end of the stand are large windshields, and there are two roof-supporting beams within the stand. It contains an executive seating area, VIP lounge, the players' dressing rooms and a tunnel out onto the pitch. Named after Thomas Arkell of Arkell's Brewery, who funded the original Arkell's stand. The west corner of this stand is allocated to away fans. 1,200 of the total 3,300 away allocation is here. This stand will under go a face lift shortly with the multiple coloured seats replaced with red or white seats to give the stand a cleaner, more up to date look.

[edit] Stratton Bank

The Stratton Bank on a sunny match day in August 2006

This is at the east end of the pitch. It is a former terrace, now with seats bolted on, and has no roof. Although planning permission was granted to build a roof on the stand, due to the club's financial plight at the time the necessary funds were not available. The Stratton Bank stand makes up the remaining 2,200 of the away allocation, but is only really needed for big games (Local Derbies, Big league, cup games) or for larger clubs with big away support. The 1,200 in the Arkell's Stand is usually more than adequate. The stadium scoreboard is located at the back of this stand. A notable feature is a large Rolex clock adjacent to the scoreboard which is owned by Deacon's Jewellers, the only one in the world as part of a football stadium.

The club is currently looking at adding temporary executive boxes to the stand which would increase revenue for the club.

[edit] Don Rogers Stand

The stand in July 2007 (then the Kingswood Stand)

To the south of the pitch. A stand built in the early 90s as the Intel Stand, then sponsored by the Nationwide Building Society until the end of the 2006/07 season and then sponsored by the Kingswood Group until March 2008. It is sometimes referred to as the South Stand by supporters. It features a cantilever roof, which means there are no roof-supports obstructing the view of the game. This replaced an old two-tier stand, of which the upper tier had become unusable due to structural problems.

There is a second concourse inside the stand which can be opened and used as a second executive area to the ground. If some seats are removed this would allow the club to use this concourse to add executive boxes to the County Ground stadium.

It is understood this concourse has never been opened due to the lack of funds Swindon Town have had over the last 10 years.

On 14th April 2008, Chief Executive Nick Watkins told a fans forum that the club is currently considering opening up the second concourse to add executive boxes to the ground.

From the start of the 2007/08 season, the stand will be known as the Don Rogers Stand.

[edit] Town End

The Town End taken pre-match; August 2006

At the west end of the pitch, it has its name for being closest to the town centre. As of the mid-2000s it has become popular with the more vocal fans, and therefore has what is considered to be the best atmosphere in the stadium on a match day. One factor is the lower prices in this end and same prices on the day as in advance.

The south end of this stand is notable because the floodlight located there pierces the stand's roof and is integrated into the stand.

[edit] Other uses

The ground has been used to host England International games, the women's International between England and Holland taking place on 14 March 2007 and also under 17's matches.^[7] The ground has also hosted other football events such as local school competitions and community soccer schools.

The ground has in the past been used as a concert venue; most notable for performances by Elton John, Lulu and Bryan Adams.In 2006 the County Ground was in the running to be one of the venues for Bon Jovi's 'Have A Nice Day Tour', however the County Ground was rejected as it was said to be to small. The County Ground is located close to the Magic Roundabout.

[edit] References

^ Stadium Info. Welcome to the County Ground. Swindon Town FC. Retrieved on 2007-02-01.
^ In the beginning.... swindon-town-fc.co.uk. Retrieved on 2007-01-14.
^ ^a ^b ^c Inglis, Simon: "Football Grounds of Britain.", page 358. CollinsWillow, 1996.
^ STFC Facts & Figures. Swindon Town Football Club. swindonweb.com. Retrieved on 2007-01-15.
^ Stadium Development. Swindon Town Football Club. Retrieved on 2007-01-15.
^ Keep It Up!. Stadium Development. Swindon Town Football Club. Retrieved on 2007-01-15.
^ Ritson, John. SWINDON TOWN: Going Dutch. Swindon Advertiser. Retrieved on 2007-02-11.