Full Steam Ahead for LNER Vince Taylor visits York City ’ s new stadium
Above : An aerial view of the LNER Community Stadium Photo : A . P . S . ( UK )/ Alamy Stock Photo
After an elongated gestation period , York City ’ s LNER Community Stadium finally staged its first football match in February 2021 , but because of the pandemic it wasn ’ t until July 2021 that spectators were allowed in to watch City play . The multiple problems that have blighted the new stadium complex over the past few years , and which complicated the club ’ s first few months at the LNER Community Stadium , have started to recede , and with Bootham Crescent , their ground from 1932 to 2020 , soon to be cleared for an impending housing development , for good or for bad , the LNER Community Stadium , where the club have signed a 99-year lease , is York City ’ s home from now on .
By every metric , the LNER Community Stadium is the very antithesis of Bootham Crescent , which will inevitably disappoint connoisseurs of old school football grounds . However , the club had signed up to leave Bootham Crescent as long ago as 2004 , and after nearly two decades of upheaval and uncertainty , the saga has at last drawn to a conclusion . Leaving sentiment aside , York City have swapped a cramped , albeit much-loved , relic of a ground , for a spacious 8,500 capacity facility that is easily up to EFL standard , despite the club ’ s current National League North status . Admittedly , the LNER Community Stadium has no snazzy architectural flourishes , but few grounds in England do and the ground does exactly what it is supposed to do in a pleasing , inoffensive way . If it is somewhat conventional in appearance , so too was Bootham Crescent when it was hastily put together in 1932 , its layout of grandstand , popular side cover and two uncovered end terraces conforming to the post-Victorian model of a lower division League ground .
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