Just goes to show, it depends entirely when you go to a stadium as to what you think of it. I went to Highbury during the George Graham era, stood on the north bank...and was bored into submission. One of the dullest afternoons of football I've ever witnessed. Have to say that I've always thought Stamford Bridge had a better atmosphere than Highbury...
Hmm... stadia that I have liked...
*Maine Road - magic. Brilliant atmosphere every time I went.
*Portman Road - again, superb atmosphere every time I've been. Lovely ground, near the station... although it does feel as if it's a bit stuck out on a limb in the badlands of Ipswich.
*Away end, Selhurst Park. It's a crap view, but boy, what a cracking atmosphere you can develop in there.
*The Boleyn Ground... it has to be said, those Spammers have got a lovely stadium, even if it is a gigantic pain in the backside to get onto the tube after the game.
Fave overseas stadium, and one of the best I've ever been to, has to be the Stade Gerland in Lyon. Right by a tube station, really easy to get in & out of the ground, brilliant atmosphere, cheap to get in, really good view of the action near the pitch, and a lovely bar with it's own microbrewery right outside the ground where it's really easy to get in and have a drink afterwards. Oh, and you get to watch the best team in France as well. As good a stadium there is in Europe, I reckon.
Worst stadia:
*Layer Road - and I'm not "just saying that"... that ground is a dump, a disgrace to the league, in a bloomin residential area, nowhere near the feckin' station, nowhere near any pubs. The only good thing about it is when it's full of Shrimpers, belting out a cracking atmosphere.
*The Saunders Honda Stadium - even the name tells a tale of a ground in the middle of nowhere; meccano stadium with no atmosphere at all.
Matt
P.S. Thought of another good stadium: Nene Park. As modern stadia go, that was right up there. Good view, good atmosphere, good ameneties, good grub. Not bad at all.
