I love stadiums, I have been to many, mostly following Watford FC, this topic actually got me thinking, what are my top 10 favorite stadiums, here are the results.
1 - Vicarage Road - Watford FC
Totally biased here, to everyone else The Vic is totally unremarkable, but those of you that are passionate supporters of "your" team will understand, there's no place like home. This is where I fell in love with football, it was the first stadium I ever went to and I just love the place.
2 - Signal Iduna Park - Borussia Dortmund
This is my 2nd football home and although again slightly biased you could say, this is a legitimate theatre of football, the atmosphere, the Sudtribune, it's just a magical place to watch football, I don't even care that it takes me 3 trains and 1 place journey to get to a home game, it's worth it.
3 - Lane Stadium - Virginia Tech
Like most college stadiums, Lane Stadium is a mass of noise and passion, and although the facilities are primitive, that's not what its about, the Enter Sandman entrance is for me the best entrance in sport. The passion in the stadium (like in every other college sdadium I'm sure) is like nothing else I have ever experienced.
4 - Heinz Feild - Pittsburgh Steelers
This is last of the biased entry's the last team that I support, but again it is legitimate, the sea of terrible towel's, the giant ketchup bottles that fill the scoreboard up with ketchup, when the Steelers get in the red zone, the great hall of history. brilliant.
5 - Lincoln Financial Field - Philadelphia Eagles
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This is Tash's american football team, so I we have been here a couple of times also, it is massive, it has fireworks that come from the roof, lots of noise from the crowd albeit mostly complaining, still a nice place to go and watch football.
6 - Wembley Stadium (old)
Only went there once, in the 1999 division 1 play off final, when Watford beat Bolton. Fortunately I was just old enough to be able to appreciate my surroundings, the stadium had a something special about it that is lost in the new stadium, maybe it was because I was young? What I do know however, is how much i hate the new stadium, I have been there so many times with Watford and NFL London, I just don't like it, it is boring and the arch is a poor replacement of the twin towers.
7 - Allianz Arena - Bayern Munich
This stadium blew me away when I first saw it, you come out of the train station and it is just "there" such a sight to see. again, it is massive, the lighting panels on the exterior are cool, not to mention it has a underground tunnel.
8 - Veltins Arena - Schalke 04
I hate this team, being a Dortmund fan, however I have to admit their stadium is really nice, it has a closing roof to keep in all the noise, a retractable pitch, a scoreboard that hangs over the pitch much like an arena. When I went I wore yellow and black trainers that didn't go down very well but hey, all good fun, HEJA BVB!
9 - The Boleyn Ground - West Ham United
I was really sad to see this stadium go, I understand why it has to go, but still sad, there's just something about these classic British stadiums that I love, they have so much character, unlike these crappy bowl stadiums like St Mary's, King Power, Liberty Stadium that all look the same. The Olympic Stadium will be different however and I look forward to visiting if for the first time next season.
10 - Old Trafford - Manchester United
Not much to say about this one really, only thing really of note is thatfor a stadium of 75,000, the atmosphere inside is a bit rubbish, much like The Emirates (The Library) the atmosphere is coming from the away end.
Just a few other more notable stadiums that don't make the list for whatever reason
Emirates Stadium - Arsenal
Wembley Stadium (new)
St Mary's - Southampton
White Hart Lane - Tottenham
Oliympic Stadium Munich
Millennium Stadium Cardiff
Elland Road - Leeds United
Carrow Road - Norwich City
