1966 AND ALL THAT
The architectural wonder of the 1966
World Cup was undoubtedly the North
Stand at HILLSBOROUGH. Compared to
the staid structures that typified British
football grounds of the period, its spaceage cantilever roof was a revelation. Costing £150,000 when opened by Sheffield
Wednesday in 1961, it accounted for
10,008 seats, all of which enjoyed the rare
novelty of an obstruction free view of play.
When it came to the World Cup, the seating accommodation at Hillsborough was
further increased to 24,500; the highest of
any ground outside of Wembley. The
South Stand paddock saw 3,500 uncovered seats bolted to the terrace steps,
while at the Leppings Lane End, a new
West Stand with 5,000 seats in the upper
tier, was constructed.
Nearly all the grounds used in 1966
were familiar to the Football Association as long established FA Cup SemiFinal venues, with Aston Villa's VILLA
PARK falling into that category. Despite that, Villa Park was still required to
jump through several hoops to bring it
up to the required standard. Costing
£99,000, £45,000 of which was met by
a government grant, the improvements
included 6,250 temporary seats at the
uncovered Witton End, additional seating in the Witton Lane Stand paddock
and the construction of a roof at the
rear of the Holte End.
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Groundtastic - The Football Grounds Magazine