Glanford Park

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Glanford Park

Full name	Glanford Park
Built	1988
Opened	1988
Capacity	9,088
Field dimensions	112 x 72 yards[1]
Tenants
Scunthorpe United F.C.

Glanford Park is a football stadium in Scunthorpe, North Lincolnshire, England and the current home of Football League Championship club Scunthorpe United.

Glanford Park opened in 1988 at a construction cost of £2.5 million, housing a total of 9,088 supporters. It was the first time that an English football club had moved to a new purpose-built stadium in 33 years, since Southend United moved to Roots Hall in 1955.

It is the 83rd largest stadium in English football.

History

Scunthorpe originally played at the Old Showground, which was located towards the centre of the town on the Doncaster Road. After the club relocated, the Old Showground was demolished and replaced by a Safeway supermarket, which was subsequently sold to Sainsbury's in 2004.^[2].

Glanford Park is located on the outskirts of Scunthorpe, close to the start of the M181 motorway. The name Glanford Park was derived from its funding by the then Glanford Borough Council, before North Lincolnshire became a unitary authority.

On its completion, it was the first new Football League stadium in England for 43 years.^[3] The record attendance is 8,921 for the 2-1 win against Newcastle United on 20 October 2009.^[4]

Stands

Scunthorpe Telegraph Stand

The Scunthorpe Telegraph (formerly Evening Telegraph) stand is the West side stand, and houses the executive boxes, players' tunnel, team dugouts and home seating. The stand, sometimes referred to as the "ETS" is marketed as being a family stand.

Study United FC Stand now known as Rainham Steel Stand

The name of this stand is the most frequently-changing. It is much more commonly known as the "Doncaster Road End" among supporters, or even simpler, the "Donny Road End." This stand is the only terraced stand at Glanford Park, and typically houses the more vocal supporters. It is due to be fitted with seating after the 2009-2010 season due to Football League regulations that standing areas must be made seating following three seasons in the Championship.

Grove Wharf Stand

The Grove Wharf Stand (formally Country Chef Stand) is the East stand of the ground, and houses seated home supporters. This stand now also features a can bar and a food outlet.

AMS Stand

This stand houses away supporters, with a maximum capacity of 1,678. However extra away seating is often made available for games such as local derbies, by sectioning off an area of the Evening Telegraph Stand. The seats in the away end of the ground were originally sourced from Aston Villa F.C., a football club sharing the same claret and blue colours as Scunthorpe United F.C. but were replaced prior to the 2007-08 season.^{[citation needed]}

Away supporters in the AMS Stand.

Future Development

In the Scunthorpe Telegraph on 14 December 2006 it was announced that the club were looking to expand the Doncaster Road End of the stadium. Potential improvements mentioned included a second tier and expansion of the club's restaurant. In announcing the plan for expansion, the club's chairman Steven Wharton acknowledged that they were not currently filling the stadium to capacity on a regular basis, but added that he was preparing for a future situation where a larger capacity could be required.

This redevelopment option is currently being assessed, alongside the option of moving to a new stadium.^[5] This would be the first major redevelopment of any stand at Glanford Park since its opening, though earlier in 2006 further catering and toilet facilities were provided beneath the Grove Wharf Stand at a cost of £100,000.

See also

• List of English football stadia by capacity
• Scunthorpe United F.C.

References

Coordinates: 53°35′12.21″N 0°41′42.96″W / 53.586725°N 0.6952667°W / 53.586725; -0.6952667