LONDON CALLING
Outside the ground an area called Armoury Square
was populated by statues of former Arsenal greats,
and going back even further in Arsenal's history, a
pair of cannons were brought over from Woolwich
Arsenal. With West Ham due to move into a reconfigured Olympic Stadium in 2016, one feels something similar will need to be done to ensure West
Ham fans feel at home. Indeed, some form of
'Hammerisation' is already on the cards it seems, for
it has been announced that just as at the Boleyn
Ground, the two ends at the Olympic Stadium will
be named in honour of Sir Trevor Brooking and
Bobby Moore.
Left: The sympathetic conversion of Highbury, with the
famous marble hall now acting as an entrance to the flats
Below: The ‘Arsenalisation’ of the Emirates Stadium
For the perfect marriage of football
and heritage, one must visit Fulham's
Craven Cottage, perched on the
northern banks of the River Thames.
The Archibald Leitch designed Stevenage Road Stand and the adjoining pavilion both date from 1905,
and are the only Grade II listed structures in senior professional football
in England, but had it not been for
the intervention of an Egyptian, Mohamed Al Fayed, these most English
of institutions might easily have been
lost. Instead, in 2004 a beautifully
restored and tastefully upgraded
Craven Cottage was reopened, allaying the fears of many Fulham fans
and well-wishers, who since the
1970s had been fearful for the
ground's future due to its prime location. The Stevenage Road Stand (now the Johnny
Haynes Stand), was renovated inside and out, while in 2008 the former Fulham legend
himself was commemorated in statue form.
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Groundtastic - The Football Grounds Magazine