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HULL, LUTON TOWN, AND SHEFFIELD WEDNESDAY ALL MADE IT FROM LEAGUE ONE AND WILL BE COMING FACE TO FACE WITH IPSWICH TOWN THIS SEASON. IN BRIEF HERE WE FOCUS ON THE NEW TEAMS AND THEIR GROUNDS...
For more information on other Premiership or CocaCola Championship grounds visit www.worldstadia.com, www.footballgroundsofengland.co.uk or www.footballgroundguide.co.uk
All quality websites for information about all away grounds in the Premiership and beyond
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LUTON TOWN - KENILWORTH ROAD
Kenilworth Road once held 30,069 spectators, Luton Towns highest ever attendance, for an FA cup 6th round replay with Blackpool. What was to follow was a slow reduction in the capacity, with the introduction of seating, executive boxes, stricter safety regulations etc. Therefore, nowadays, the stadium capacity is approx 9,970 spectators, with 7,770 seats available for home supporters. Away fans are allocated the remaining 2,200 odd tickets, and should enter via turnstiles 6-8 on Oak Road.
The ground is located about half a mile west of the town centre, and is located in the middle of a large residential area, so much so that the entrances to the away end cut under people's bedrooms (see area photograph)! This means the ground is very difficult to find, especially for first time visitors.
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HULL CITY - KINGSTON COMMUNICATION STADIUM
The Kingston Communications (KC) stadium was opened in December 2002, and is a real gem of a stadium! Build at a cost of £44m the KC Stadium is home to both the towns Rugby League & football clubs, and offers excellent facilites. Set in acres of tranqual parkland it offers a petting zoo, childrens play area, boating lake, skateboard rink, sports arena, and there is even a cyber cafe, a college facility and a library! The stadium has an impressive all seater capacity of 25,404.
The impressive design is a real masterpeice, and unlike many other new stadia, this stadium has an abundance of atmosphere, and quality.
Like most new stadia, it's totally enclosed, with three single tiered stands, and one doudle tiered stand, which is obviously larger (this is the west stand). In a similar manner to Molinuex's curved stands, the KC Stadium is also unique in design. The roof of the stadium rises up and over the West Stand, and like Molinuex, the stands slightly curve around the playing area.
The West stand also has a row of 28 executive boxes running between the tiers, and there is a an electric scoreboard at the North End of the stadium. Away fans are normally located within the North Stand, with an aloocation of 4,000 for larger teams, and less for smaller teams.
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SHEFFIELD WEDNESDAY - HILLSBOROUGH
This ground was originally built in 1899, and was used for many an FA cup semi final during the eighties due to it's central location and capacity (39,814). Since then the ground has been rather neglected as things on the pitch have slowly gone from bad to worse, and imposed financial restraints on the club.
That said, this is still an excellent ground, and well worth a visit. The ground boasts four individual two tiered stands, which are covered and offer all seating, with the largest & most impressive being the South stand. Three of the corners are still open, with only the West and North Stands being connected (see a picture left)
For league games away fans are normally allocated approx 4000 tickets, and are located within the upper tier of the West Stand (the Leppings Lane). For large attendances, there is normally additional tickets allocated within the lower tier of the West Stand, although this does have some impaired viewing.
Despite travelling to watch my team lose two FA cup semi finals here, this ground still holds fond memories, and these come flooding back whenever I visit. The atmosphere is good, and locals are usually friendly, and this ground is a must for any travelling fan.
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