The Oldest Covered Stand ln The World

[Flaming Pie]

I picked up this postcard recently. It’s The Wolverton Sports Ground, Buckinghamshire. Apparently the stand was the worlds oldest covered one in existence. It was built in 1899 , in later years Wolverham Town FC played there. It fell in to disrepair and was due to be demolished , but in 2001 there was an attempt to grant it listed building status. This failed and it was demolished in 2006. A replica of the famous stand was built on the new relocated sports ground in Wolverton in 2009. I have had a look at photos of the replica and it looks slightly different than the one in this photo . Are there any Wolverton Town officianadoes who can confirm that this is indeed the famous stand , or were there other sports grounds in the area with a similar stand? Many thanks.

[Dorking]

A stand built in 1899 surely isn't the oldest surviving in the world?

Great Yarmouth Town FC's dates from 1892 "whose grandstand is believed to be the world's oldest football stand still in regular use" (wikipedia)

[Pete’s Picture Palace]

This is that wonderful stand at Great Yarmouth in 1953

[Dorking]

That game against Palace set the ground attendance record there

[Pete’s Picture Palace]

Yes, and we lost 1-0 (one of 3 consecutive FAC losses to non-league teams!)

[Flaming Pie]

Thanks Dorking and Pete, to be honest, I’d never even heard of Wolverton when l got the photo /postcard. I know you have to be careful with Wikipedia, but this is what it says about Wolverton FC: “lts former home, Wolverton Park, had what was believed to be the oldest football stand in the UK”. Wolverton FC were formed in1887. I suppose the thing to establish is whether the stand was erected the same year? If it was, it would make it older than the one you mentioned. I will need to research it more fully.

[Fishy]

Below is a scan of a page from a Wolverton programme I have. It doesn't answer the question about the stand, but it porvides a small part of the history of the club.


_________________
Millwall league AWAYS wanted
45/6 Newport; Swansea; Leicester.
47/8 Coventry.
48/9 Newport.
49/0 Walsall; Exeter.
50/1 Port Vale.
51/2 Port Vale 1/5.
52/3 Swindon.

[silkman1]

Correct me if I am wrong but wasn't the ground visible from the London bound train?

[Flaming Pie]

Thanks Fishy and silkman, after looking at a few articles it looks like 1899 was the date it was built. As Dorking suggested, l feel that there must have been stands erected earlier than this date. Perhaps they didn’t originally have covers on and they were added at a later date? The Wolverton stand might have been the first built with a cover? But , there must have been some reason it was regarded as so historically important.

[New Forest]

The Pavilion at the Essex County Cricket Ground in Leyton was built in 1886. As a football ground it was used by The Corinthians, The Wanderers, Leyton and London Caledonians It was also the ground used by The Essex FA for their cup finals before the war.

[Flaming Pie]

Thanks Fishy and New Forest, here’s a pic of the reproduction of the original stand that they built at Wolverton .