ECONOMIC OUTLOOK
FOOTBALL GROUNDS IN THE SHADOW OF CANARY WHARF
With its distinctive pyramid-style roof, the 235 metre tall tower in the centre of London
Docklands is often referred to as Canary Wharf. In fact, the whole plot of land containing
some of the UK's tallest buildings and some of its financial powerhouses is known collectively as Canary Wharf, with the tower itself officially being called One Canada Square.
Located on the Isle of Dogs, Canary Wharf is built on former import and export docks
which closed in 1980 after years of gradual decline. The area was subject to a huge regeneration programme
by
the
London
Docklands Development Corporation
(LDDC) from the
late Eighties, with
the iconic One Canada Square tower
topped out in 1990.
The tower was at
the time the tallest
building in the UK
(it has since been
superseded by The
Shard) and contains
50 storeys.
It is
neighboured
by
several of the UK's
other tallest buildings, housing banking and finance corporations such as HSBC, Citigroup,
Barclays and JP Morgan.
Football's association with the Isle of Dogs goes back a long way, to the days when the
area was still operating the docks that serviced international trade between the UK and its
many overseas partners. It is interesting to note that the settlement of Millwall is actually
on the Isle, not to the south of the River Thames where the club of the same name have
played for over a century. There was once a line of windmills lining the western wall of the
Isle, hence the name.
The many dockers that lived in the area came from all over Britain, but had amongst them
a strong Scottish contingent, and it is their influence that saw Millwall Rovers formed in
1885. In the 25 years that followed the club played at four different grounds on the Isle of
Dogs, namely Glengall Road, the Lord Nelson Ground (East Ferry Road), The Athletic
Grounds and the North Greenwich Ground. In 1910 the club became simply 'Millwall' and
moved across the Thames, never to return.
Since those days football has taken a more minor role in the Isle's history, being mostly limited to local league and works teams. However, with the rise of the Canary Wharf development at the end of the 20th Century, the vista of some of the outlaying football grounds
have acquired a permanent reminder of the area's new role as one of the world's main
financial sectors.
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