From a football stadium to a housing estate 🏘️ | Lost Grounds | Episode 2

Sky Sports Football

Lost Grounds Episode 2: How Britain's old football grounds became housing and community memory

Ben Ransom visits old grounds in Middlesbrough, Darlington, Doncaster, Rotherham, Chesterfield, Burton and Leicester, documenting how they have become housing, rugby stadiums, NHS diagnostic centres or demolition sites. Interviewees stress that the intimacy and community memories of old grounds are hard to replace, and that while moves are sometimes necessary, clubs should try to keep the character of the old place.

► Subscribe to Sky Sports Football: http://bit.ly/SSFootballSub ► Watch Sky Sports with NOW: https://bit.ly/NOWFootballYT In episode two of Lost Grounds Ben Ransom travels around Britain visiting old football grounds to see what they have become, from housing estates to rugby stadiums. football footballstadiums footballground Chapters 00:00 - Intro 00:49 - Ayresome Park 05:49 - Feethams Park 06:35 - Darlington Arena 09:26 - Bootham Crescent 09:46 - Boothferry Park 10:24 - York Street 10:55 - Belle Vue 12:55 - Millmoor 17:10 - Don Valley 17:23 - Saltergate 18:27 - Baseball Ground 21:24 - Eton Park 22:25 - Filbert Street 25:40 - Coming up ► EFL highlights: https://bit.ly/EFLHighlights2627 ► EFL Cup highlights: https://bit.ly/CarabaoCupHL ► SPFL highlights: https://bit.ly/SPFLHighlights2627 ► Bundesliga highlights: https://bit.ly/BundesligaHighlights2627 ► Buy this season’s shirts: https://bit.ly/SkySportsShop More from Sky Sports on YouTube: ► Sky Sports: http://bit.ly/SkySportsSub ► Sky Sports Boxing: http://bit.ly/SSBoxingSub ► Sky Sports Cricket: http://bit.ly/SubscribeSkyCricket ► Sky Sports Darts: https://bit.ly/SubSkySportsDarts ► Sky Sports F1: http://bit.ly/SubscribeSkyF1 ► Sky Sports Golf: https://bit.ly/SubscribeSkySportsGolf ► Sky Sports News: http://bit.ly/SkySportsNewsSub ► Sky Sports Premier League: https://bit.ly/SubscribeSkySportsPL ► Sky Sports Retro: http://bit.ly/SkySportsRetroSub ► Sky Sports WSL: https://bit.ly/SubscribeSkySportsWSL ► Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SkySportsFootball ► Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/skysportsfootball ► TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@skysportsfootball / https://www.tiktok.com/@skysportswsl ► X: https://x.com/SkyFootball / https://x.com/SkySportsWSL ► Website: https://www.skysports.com ► To enquire about licensing Sky Sports content, you can find out more here: https://www.skysports.com/more-sports/news/31754/11434270/license-sky-sports-footage

Transcript

I'm on a journey to find out what happens to our football grounds [music] when the doors close. I've had a tour of Goodison Park, been shopping in Bolton. >> Please take your change. >> Found a hidden gem in Bradford and got on stage in Sunderland. The fall will end magic. Coming up in this episode, there's a surprising discovery in Middlesborough. So, this is a national monument of North Korea. >> I make friends in Darlington and take a poke around Rotherham. >> Welcome to Gmore. [music] Back on the road, I headed south to Middlesbrough. More than two decades ago, the club left Park for a new home and a new chapter. The Transporter [music] Bridge is Middlesborough's most famous landmark, but that could all change if Brian Robson gets his way. This is the Cellnet Riverside Stadium. Robson wants to turn this into T-side's version of the Theater of Dreams. Not bad. >> [music] >> The Riverside brought a new era to Middlesbrough, ushered in by the sambber beats of Brazilian superstars [music] and unforgettable celebrations. But the old ground still has a story to tell. [music] We've made it to Middlesbrough. Yes, it's another housing estate, but I'm told there are a number of clues as to this place's former identity and a particularly historic game involving two teams at a World Cup. North Korea produced one of the greatest shocks in history, beating Italy 1-0il in 1966, and the locals still remember it fondly. Hello, Robert. >> Yes, >> Ben. Great to meet you. >> Good to meet you. >> I can see quite evidently you're wearing a North Korean football shirt. >> Yeah. >> What does that signify? >> Obviously that in many respects the sort of greatest occasion that ever happened at Park. >> Tell us about your house. >> Well, I bought a house when Park was about to be the land was being sold. I inquired um and it was going to become a housing estate. So I put my name down straight away and I was the first person to buy a plot. >> Yeah, that's how it stood. >> Roberts invited us inside to show us some memorabilia he'd collected from the old grounds. >> Toilet signs. >> Yeah, basically there was an auction. >> The Great Burough selloff. [music] Everything must go. Essent Park fixtures and fittings available at auction for the fans to [music] pick a piece of posterity. >> I put my hand up and I got these two signs for 12 quid. Then when I realized I'd actually bought toilet signs. >> Fortunately, there was a bit more to see here than just the old toilet signs. Where's the first clue then? >> Can you see these this line of studs? >> Yeah, I can. Silver spots. Yeah, >> the edge of the pitch. >> Oh, right here. >> So, I'm taking a throwing. Yeah. >> We have a series of sculptures on the site. When the estate was was bought by by the the developer, >> the council insisted that something was left as a memory of the former ground. There was a big competition. People came from all over Europe, different artists with different ideas of what to do. And this guy, Neville Gabby, he had kind of like an archeological approach. Here we see a football, a bronze, it's a bronze football. >> I was going to say it looks like that's one that the kids have been playing with and it's just kind of fallen in behind the street. >> Exactly. And that's the idea. Everything is quite subtle. It blends in, but it's actually where the penalty spot was on this wall. It's very hard to make out. It actually says away. Can you see the A? >> Yeah, that's an A. Yeah, look, you can see the A. I'll draw it out. >> Just walked past something. Not quite a jumper for goalpost, but how about a denim a denim jacket? >> I actually thought that was a bit of old cloth. >> This is the most subtle clue of them all. >> You do need an interpretation on this. Can you see that green patch? >> Yeah, I'm I'm starting to tune my eye into what the sculptures look like. >> The football boot studs and they represent the point at which Pack Dawick scored against Italy. The story behind this is that a film crew went [music] out to North Korea to try and find the survivors of the 66 North Korean team. [music] And they asked them if there's anything we can do for the you what would it be? What would you most want? And they said they would like to go back to Middlesra. The Koreans are here to promote a documentary which follows their lives since 1966 and to renew a special relationship with the people of T-side. >> Uh it's really amazing to be back here after 36 years. >> They all gathered around this and they declared it a national monument of North Korea. >> So this is a national monument of North Korea in the heart of a housing estate on T-side. >> Yeah. Yeah. >> That pair of boots. Could it just be a pair of boots that have have [laughter] been worn and have been left out to dry? Or could it be the center spot? I've looked out my window and seen people walking past. There was a guy that he was looking around and I said, "Are you are you looking for park?" And he said, "Yes." And he said, "I've just come from Australia." We put together a video for for people and we take it out to care homes and things like that to older people and it helps jog their memories. It takes them back to that point. Back on the road, I headed further south on the hunts for a ground once known as the Wembley of the North. Not for its size, but its distinctive entrance. Fetams, the former home of Darlington, had twin towers that supporters would pass beneath on match days, rather like old Wembley's own memorable landmarks. I did not expect to see that. I came here on the pretense that these towers had gone. Fetams was famous for having these towers where the turn styles would be to go into the ground. Essentially, this cricket ground was here and you walk through to the football stadium on the other side. Now, these were demolished as far as I was aware. When the ground made way for housing, the towers were rebuilt. Sadly, when you say Darlington FC and grounds, it's usually not fetums that comes to mind. >> [music] >> This is the Darlington Arena, capable of holding 25,000, but there's no football played here. There's quite a backstory to this. It began in 1999 when George Reynolds bought the club. He launched plans for a new grounds. One man and his dream. [music] The eccentric Darlington owner unveiled his 15 million pound plans for the new 25,000 allseater stadium and then scoffed at those who say it can't be filled even at a fiverr a seat. I would rather have a£5 bum on a seat than an empty seat worth 20. >> The grand visions also led to ambitious transfer targets. >> It's a northeast lad and we've got a nice st state-of-the-art >> and one was paraded round fetums itself. [music] [applause] >> [music] [music] >> This ground opened in [screaming] 2003 and it's fair to say it's had a few ups and downs. [laughter] The average attendance was 2,000 and the costs caused the club to go into administration before eventually being expelled from the football association in 2012. The football club is [music] now fanowned, while this place has owners of a different kind. [groaning] [music] It's the largest rugby specific stadium outside of Twickenham in the UK. So really yeah I think it cost around about £2 million and obviously a new build would have cost a hell of a lot more than that. What a great facility we moved into. Everything was top class. Some of the rooms you walked into there was no expense spared in them. We've still got a lot of it. We've had to change a lot. The seating used to have Downtown FC. They moved all of the seating to spell out the DMP that's there today, the Darlington [music] MP, the Malden, unscrewed every single seat by hand and reconfigured it. >> Considering that the term white elephant was used to describe this place, that must have been for the community fantastic >> to come and play your rugby in this 25,000 seat stadium. [laughter] >> It must have taken some getting used to. >> Yeah, absolutely. I mean, averaging about 600 per game, so we still get the fans through the door. There's still plenty of noise and as a player it's great. Who doesn't want to play a sport in a stadium? If rugby goes, the stadium goes. Further south in York, the club is celebrating [music] a return to the football league, but Booth Cresant is already part of the past. Since the club's moved to the York Community Stadium in 2021, the site has been transformed into housing. >> [music] >> And back [music] on the M62, my next stop was Hull. >> Hull City are going to walk amongst the giants [music] OF THE ENGLISH GAME AGAIN. >> Another club recently celebrating promotion, their fourth to the Premier League since they switched grounds. An emotional day is in store at Booth Park, but a big sendoffs in store for the battered ground. More than half a century since Hull City first moved in, Booth Park was famous for its own railway station, allowing supporters to step straight from the train into the ground. Across the Humber Bridge and into Lincolnshshire, I arrived at York Street. Boston United's brief football league journey played out here, as did [music] the final chapter of Paul Gascoinne's career. >> I'm giving myself credit because I I am Kevin. I could have just sat in the house. I could have just done whatever. There's other jobs for us, but the fact is I could have just sat back and been a coach. No, I want to get involved. Empty [music] since 2020, the ground is now being transformed into an NHS diagnostic center. It was a long drive back into Yorkshire to find a site with a checkered past. Belleview has been home to sport in Doncaster for over 80 years, but now they're preparing to say goodbye. [music] >> So, we're opposite the raceourse here where they hold the St. Ledger. There's a Doncaster Rovers crest up on the top of that building there. 2006, which I guess marks the last game here. That was the last. >> Exactly. That this area has so much history for Doncaster Rovers. Are there any moments that stand out for you? >> In the old days, people, youngsters especially, used to climb into the ground. Kevin Keegan, I believe, who was uh lived around here, he was one of them. 10 years later, he was playing for Liverpool in an FA Cup replay and going into the away dressing room and he didn't have to pay this time and he didn't have to climb over any [laughter] any fences. >> Something that sets Belleview apart in the sense it had a bit of a checkered history. Ken Richardson was the man who nearly killed off Doncaster Rovers after hiring a former SCES soldier to set light to the main stand of the Belleview ground. Now the former 61-year-old main shareholder of the side has been convicted of conspiracy to commit criminal damage by fire. It was one of the darkest times in in Rover's history. Ken Richardson wanted to move to a new ground. He wanted to put pressure on the council who actually owned the land. I'll always remember because I bumped into Ken Richardson at the ground and I said, "Oh, are you going to have a look at the fire, will you show me where it is?" And he says, "Well, you can go in if you want." He said, "But I'm not going in there cuz they might think there's some forensic evidence uh which is will be against me." It wasn't just the fire, was it? Obviously, it was only I think what, a couple of months after the club moved into the new stadium that there was a huge gas explosion here, ripped down half the main stand. It caused a lot more damage uh than the fire did, but by then Rose had moved and the ground was going to get demolished anyway. I carried on through Yorkshire and to the remarkable story of Milmore. This ground stood abandoned for 18 years and is now being demolished. [music] But I was fortunate enough to get one final look around before the work started. >> Welcome to the mall. >> Thank you very much. Can we have a look inside? By by all means, by [music] all means. >> Waiting inside to meet me was the perfect tour guide. John, you know this ground and the history of this ground better than most people having been here as what? A fan, player, assistant, >> caretaker. I mean, it is remarkable. It's almost like a time capsule. >> It's a museum. It's unbelievable how it's still here. It's a shrine for me. They're in a state now. >> They're still here. They're in a bit of a sweep. As I got a little bit older and I became head boy, I used to give it the young apprentices to clean the toilets out. So [laughter] come through here with my dad. My dad in them early days used to lift me over the turn style, give six pins to the bloke, whoever. He earned a few quid on the side. What we got? This is a tea bar. There's a price list. Pie £220. Sausage roll£120. [music] I can stretch to some crisps, I think. John, if you don't mind finding me some. I don't know what they might be. >> They might be off for a little bit. >> Refreshments. >> Yeah, lads. Do you want a cup of tea? >> Miller. I'm not the best singer, am [laughter] I? But that's how it starts. >> Millise [music] [singing] [music and singing] again. >> What does this place mean to you? Yeah. It means a hell of a lot to a lot of people. The memories are great and few tears I've had people come in and sat on the terrace and they sit there and they get a bit emotional. They've locked the gates at Milmore for what could be the final time. Chairman Tony Stewart has taken the bold step of moving the club across South Yorkshire into Sheffield where they'll play at the Dawn Valley Stadium. >> To me, to you, come and see us at Don Valley Stadium. Come see brilliant. Cristiano chuckle. >> We've just about got room to get everybody in. It's all 50,000. So, we'll get all the fans in. >> We'll squeeze you in some. >> There'd been financial problems and the new owner Tony Stewart came in. Unable to reach a satisfactory agreement, they wanted to develop this ground. He decided that Tony had build a new stadium. So, after 4 years at Donaw Stadium in Sheffield, we got that wonderful New York stadium. [music] There might not have been a league game here for a long time, but matches are being played here again at Milmore. Wtherham scores are in action today, Aaron. >> Yeah, really good. Thank you. Um, >> just a goal. >> Just a goal. >> Timing's everything. >> How did you end up playing back here at Milmore? >> We were lucky enough to have Ronny Moore come and coach for us this season. His grandson, I think, were under 15s and Rotherham boys always played here. this at the actual home ground. It normally a midweek game under flood lights and a couple of our teams got to cup final last season. Ronnie got involved and helped us get back on here. Probably more nostalgic and good for parents is it is none of these will really remember [music] this place but yeah it's uh it's really nice to be able to to come back here and see football being played on Milmore again. There were trees and whatnot growing [music] on this at one point. So it must have took a lot of regeneration >> and no visit to Milmore is complete without speaking to Mr. Rotherham himself. Rody Moore's red and white Rotherham army have written another astonishing chapter in this scoring that's unfolding in South Yorkshire. >> Can I get you to try and put into words what Milmore is a place? What does it mean to you? >> The pride of being a manager here, the pride of getting promotion here, the pride of of playing. I mean, the support's fantastic. We're only a little club, but you we've got big hearts. The biggest thing for me is you just enjoyed coming to the football club. >> [music and singing] >> element. >> On route to my next stop, I passed the former Dawn Valley Stadium, once Rotherham's temporary home. This was predominantly an athletics track, but that's been knocked down, too. Out of Yorkshire and into Darbashier, past Chesterfield's famous crooked spire, >> the demolition men are due to move in in the autumn, after which the site will be turned over to housing. Saltergate stood for 139 years, and if you've watched The Damned United, you might recognize it. It doubled as a filming location thanks to its old school character. It also launched the career of Gordon Banks and another familiar name in English football. Sean Dice Chesterfield by two goals to nil. >> My overriding memory of salt gate. Well, I had a number of seasons there. The atmosphere when I was a young player going there at first. The rough and readiness of it behind the scenes playing cricket on a little bit of concrete out the backside of the dressing rooms that we used to play in the mornings. Generally a good feel about the old stadium. people who love the the community [music] club. The the fans love the club despite the lack of facilities and all that. No one really bothered with that at a great old ground in Saltake. >> I'm now on my way into Derby and there's Pride Park, their home since 1997. It's not often that a brand new football stadium is opened in July and it's not often that Her Majesty officiates. The Queen's visit was the day's main attraction, but to ensure the stadium is filled in the coming season, the players will need to provide some majestic football buried somewhere in and amongst all of these houses. We should be able to find them. And there it is. >> Sadly, no royal welcoming for me at their old grounds. History in the making for Derby County. The last game played at the old baseball ground [music] after 109 years. It's soon to be demolished for housing. I've made it to Derby where Brian Kloff celebrated a league title. Dave Mai's team thrashed Real Madrid 4-1 in the European Cup on this very piece of land. But football was not the first love for people in this part of the world. The baseball ground was built to house that very sport, baseball, because a local businessman wanted to promote its popularity here [music] in England. He built this sports ground to house his team and they won the League Cup, but baseball's popularity never really took off. Derby County moved from the old cricket ground where they ground shed here to the baseball ground to make it their home. And unlike many of the new build housing estates that we've seen so far in this journey, more than just a few road signs remain, including this momento the grounds past. So, I'm going to go and meet the man who built it. So this is the workshop where the sculpture was crafted and created before we saw it in its final resting place. So that means that you must be Dennis Okconor. You must be the brains behind the artwork. >> Yes. Hi. >> Hello. >> Good to see you. >> What's the story behind the sculpture at the baseball ground? >> The idea was to kind of make a memorial work. It's an archway. I remember talking to clients where the idea of the baseball ground is a very compact ground and we had this kind of notion of trying [music] to come through a kind of narrow doorway. As an audience member, a viewer of the artwork, you have to walk through it and then magically above you animated are three Derby footballers. It was really good to have the opportunity [music] to make memorial of that site. Dennis decided to put me to work to see if I could help with any future stadium projects. Right. So, what am I doing? >> Don't get your hands too close. >> Oh, no. I won't do that bit. No. No. Fine. Right. You ready? >> Yeah. You don't You don't need to use any force. [music] From [music] a place Brian Kloff built his reputation to a ground where his son built a legacy, too. >> But it's son Nigel, who's now doing the business as a football manager, having guided Burton Albian to their first title in their 50-year history. >> And that legacy is something the old Eaton Park site pays tribute to. They've always got these character, these old grounds and the non-league grounds especially, they have a certain character to them. Uh, and I think that's one of the biggest challenges when they do move to a new ground, which you have to sometimes to make pro