At the centre of every ground lies what is technically known as ‘the field of play’. This is often referred to as ‘the park’. Like so many football words and phrases this originates from the very early days of the game when most matches were played on a marked-out section of a public park. This was before large crowds started to gather to watch.

Grounds

In Britain, cricket clubs were first to establish properly enclosed grounds. They had good pitches and pavilions of sorts and because they were not used in the winter, some of them decided to form their own football teams or to rent their facilities to an outside football club.

The most famous stadium of all Wembley

Some early football clubs realised their support was growing and that it was worthwhile hiring a field and passing round collection boxes to raise funds to help to pay expenses. Often these fields were near public houses which provided changing rooms, after-the-match meals, and a committee meeting room. In return the public houses benefited from increased custom from the club’s supporters.

Gradually, fenced grounds helped to establish an identity and the fences were used to carry advertisements. They helped to raise additional funds. This type of advertising proved popular with businessmen. Today it is a feature of football grounds all over the world.

Eventually the fields were fenced in. Gates were built at which the spectators could be charged admission. This provided a much-needed income for the club. As the crowds grew larger the gates were replaced by turnstiles.

In order that more people in the larger crowds could have a better view of the game, the land around the pitch was sloped with mounds of ash and rubble. When this had settled, steps were cut in the slopes on which spectators could stand. These steps were originally nicknamed ‘stands’.

Simple wooden sheds were then built near the half way line for businessmen

Later, when factory workers took up the game and crowds were larger still, patches of waste ground were bought to build purpose-made football grounds. The sites not only had to be near town centres and local transport for the supporters who travelled by foot, bicycle, bus and tram but for others, who chugged in by steam train, the grounds also had to be close to a railway station.

As the industrial towns flourished the last remaining open spaces around the football grounds became densely packed with rows of Victorian terraced houses. Although this kept the football grounds at the heart of their communities it also meant that there was no space available for them to expand. This is still a major problem at most football grounds today.

With the formation of the Football League in 1888, the crowds increased even more and so bigger and better tiers of seats were constructed eating up the remaining strips of land bordering the pitch. Even so, most spectators still had to stand, often in the rain, with no protection from the cold winter winds.