Wales’ Lost Football Grounds
One minute they’re there, the next they’re not. Many of Wales’ most iconic grounds have been demolished and resigned to fond memories to those who spent countless hours standing on the terraces or sat on wooden seats. From the Bob Bank of Ninian Park to the murals at Farrar Road, we’ve lost some truly iconic stadia over the years.
Vetch Field 1912–2011
Named after a type of legume, the Swan’s former home is remembered fondly by those who graced its stands every other Saturday and those who travelled in numbers as away fans, especially in an era where attending matches was more dangerous than it is today.
Surrounded by rows of houses in SA1 and in the shadow of HMP Swansea, The Vetch’s charm is undeniable. A proper old-school ground complete with what can be described as some of the most non-uniform stands of any stadium on this island. The South Stand with a clock that didn’t work, The East Stand with arguably the most bizarre-looking floodlight of all time and The North Bank, where the most passionate jacks stood and made as much noise throughout the years with fans forging bonds with likeminded individuals who’ve seen the highs and lows of watching their team.
The Vetch also hosted the national team on numerous occasions, including the World Cup qualifier against Iceland that saw electrical issues play a part in Wales missing out on reaching Espania ’82. Six rugby league internationals were played there as well, The Who played in front of a massive crowd there in 1976 and Stevie Wonder graced its turf in 1984.
Swansea’s last season at The Vetch saw crowds rise as they gained promotion out of League 2 with players like Lee Trundle and James Thomas banging in goals week after week. The final game played was a 2–1 win for The Swan’s against Wrexham to win the FAW Premier Cup. As the fans ripped out as many pieces of memorabilia after the full-time whistle, pouring out onto the streets one last time, The Vetch would lay dormant from 2005 as the move was made a few miles up the road to the 20,000 all-seater Liberty Stadium (now known as the Swansea.com Stadium).
Rotting away for years, the bulldozers came in 2011 and within a few months, years of footballing heritage was reduced to rubble. The Vetch is now a community park with some remains of the old ground remaining like bricked off turnstiles, walls from the old stands and you can still make out the former players entrance wedged between a row of houses.
Farrar Road 1920–2012
Right in the heart of the university city up north with the cathedral towering over the ground, Bangor’s former home was something to behold.
A ground that hosted fixtures in both the English and Welsh pyramids during its time, Farrar Road was a small ground in which the locals could make a hostile atmosphere for any visiting teams and their fans.
Side’s such as Napoli and Athletico have played on this ground up north in the European Cup Winners Cup and even Bob Paisley’s European Cup winning Liverpool side played at Farrar Road in the 70s.
The Citizen’s are known to have some of the most passionate fans in the Welsh pyramid and their former home reflected that, with walls covered in eastern-European style murals displaying their support for the club.
Farrar Road was set to be demolished and turned into a leisure complex at the end of the 2008/09 season, but several delays meant that the final game came in December 2011. Bangor’s 5–3 win against Prestatyn Town was an end of an era, with The Citizen’s making the move to Nantporth Stadium soon after. Where once you would find the sporting heartbeat of a passionate city, you’ll now find an Asda.
Ninian Park 1910–2009
As you walk through Canton and underneath a dark and moody rail bridge, talking a long, exposed walk down Sloper Road, you’ll encounter the former home of one of the most notorious grounds on this island.
Ninian Park is a name synonymous with football hooliganism, the patch where many from Cardiff and many from up in the valleys fought against anyone deemed as an outsider. Anyone who travelled to the ground from the late 1960s to its closure in 2009 will tell you tales of battles on the stands and outside the turnstiles, bricks and bottles flying from all directions and chants of “We Are Evil” reverberating around the terraces.
The aggro is undeniable, but it is also undeniable that said aggro made it a nightmare for away sides to get a result there. Nathan Blake’s strike against Manchester City in 1994 is one of the FA Cup’s most iconic upsets, which Cardiff arguably topped in 2002 with a 2–1 win against Leeds United in a game displaying how hostile Ninian Park could be.
Despite all the negative’s that can be said on the violence involved with football during that era, like many of the stadiums that aren’t standing anymore, friendships to last lifetimes were made on the concrete terraces of the Bob Bank and the Grange End. The escapism that 90 minutes of football offered during awfully hard times for those living in the South Wales Valleys during the 80s and 90s was the highlight of the week, memories made on those stands from those coming down from mining areas in the Rhondda and Rhymney Valleys still resonate with those there to witness them.
Ninian Park hosted 88 international fixtures between 1911 and 1998, with moments such as a 2–0 playoff victory over Israel securing Wales’ spot at the 1958 World Cup and many clashes against England and Scotland during the days of Home Internationals. It was against Scotland in which the stadium’s darkest night happened in 1985, following a World Cup qualifier in which the legendary Jock Stein died of a heart attack after a 1–1 draw which sent the tartan army to Mexico ‘86.
In typical Cardiff fashion, Ninian Park’s farewell was a stinker for the fans. A 3–0 loss to Ipswich ended the club’s promotion hopes which would have brought Premier League football to the new Cardiff City Stadium ready for the start of the 2009/10 season. On the site where massive floodlights dominated the skyline in Cymru’s capital now lies a housing estate with not many reminders of what once was on the land. CCS is a Danny Ward goal kick away from Ninian Park and despite hosting a UEFA Super Cup final and being the home of Welsh football, many will say what made Cardiff City great was left in 2009 at NP.
Somerton Park 1912–1993
Home to the Amber Army from 1912 until 1989, Somerton Park saw many highs and lows in the history of Newport County.
The high’s came in the late 1970s and early 1980s, with County gaining promotion into the Third Division (League 1) and winning their only Welsh Cup title. Winning the cup meant European football the following season, a run to the quarter-final of the European Cup Winners Cup saw the Amber Army losing out to Eastern German side Carl Zeiss Jenna 3–2 on aggregate despite a famous draw in the away leg. 18,000 were crammed into Somerton Park for that European night in which both clubs have since formed a bond.
Somerton Park wasn’t just Newport County’s home either, it also was the home of the Newport Wasps speedway team and it was also a popular venue for Greyhound racing!
County’s fortunes dipped throughout the 1980s and in 1989 the club famously was declared bankrupt and was reformed as Newport AFC four months later. After two seasons in which Newport won the Hellenic double at the London Road ground in Moreton-in-Marsh (80 miles away from Newport), The Exiles returned home for the 1990–91 and 1991–92 seasons in Somerton Park. The FAW condemned Newport to another two seasons playing across the border, ground sharing with Gloucester City at their home of Meadow Park. Left derelict after County were exiled, Somerton Park was demolished in 1993 with a housing estate taking its place soon after. The Amber Army returned to Newport in 1994 with Spytty Park opening its doors.
Cardiff Arms Park/National Stadium 1984–1997
The spiritual home of Welsh rugby has a history as complicated as its naming situation, with many calling the National Stadium the Arms Park despite Cardiff Arms Park being a separate stadium to the National Stadium.
Until 1969, Cardiff RFC and the Welsh national team played on the same pitch but this soon changed with Cardiff RFC moving where the original cricket ground at the site of the former Cardiff Arms Park stadium stood. The National Stadium was officially opened in April 1984.
The FAW used to rotate fixtures between Wrexham’s Racecourse Ground, Swansea’s Vetch Field and Cardiff’s Ninian Park but due to crowd trouble and UEFA regulations, a permanent home was needed for qualifiers. The first international played at the Arms Park was a goalless draw against West Germany in Ma7 1989, the first international fixture held on this island watched by all-seater spectators after the Hillsborough Disaster of the same year.
Even without being able to stand on the terraces, the atmosphere was electric in the Arms Park which helped Wales to some famous victories. Both Brazil and Germany lost there in 1991, two of the nations most iconic results.
Darker days did occur at the stadium afterwards. Failure to qualify for Euro ’92 and the ’94 World Cup led to a downfall in the quality of football played and the infamous qualifier against Romania in 1993 saw a fan killed by a flare gun after a 2–1 loss.
Crowds dwindled throughout the 90s as Bobby Gould took the helm whilst talks began in 1995 for a new stadium to replace the Arms Park ready for Wales to host the Rugby World Cup in 1999. After hosting Welsh internationals and the Welsh Cup final for a brief period, the National Stadium shut in 1997 and was replaced with the Millenium Stadium in 1999.
Conclusion
These stadiums were built in a time where football was the working class’ game, pay on the gate for Saturday 15:00 and Tuesday 19:45 kickoffs, stand with thousands of others making as much noise as possible and as the beautiful game was modernised and clubs turned from the beating heart’s of communities to just another money-making corporation, these grounds were going to be lost. It goes without saying that many would rather that old-school matchday over the modern, sanitised experience it is today but the spirit of those times will live on forever.
