The Six Smallest Premier League Stadiums of All-Time (Part 2)
Yesterday I wrote about the first part of the three smallest stadiums in Premier League history which you can check out here. Well, here's the final part with the final three smallest stadiums in Premier League history. Just how small does it get?
3. County Ground, Swindon
Club: Swindon Town FC
Opened: 1892
Capacity: 14,700
Swindon is one of the smallest towns to ever host a Premier League team. They played top flight football in the 1993-94 season and got absolutely belted, winning only five games and conceding a record 100 goals.
With a population of only 186,000 the minnows can be proud that they played in the Premier League for starters. The County Ground reflects the size of the town, but it's the only stadium in the world to have a Rolex clock installed. It's also hosted Elton John and Bryan Adams concerts.
There's been plans in the past to expand the capacity but a lack of success on the field has halted those. The County Grounds sits on land owned by the council which Swindon pays rent for. Because of this the club has been exploring a move away from here to generate more revenue.
Poor ol' Swindon got absolutely wrecked in the Premier League.
Source: Photo by Gloworm 44 shared under Creative Commons (CC) license.
2. Boundary Park, Oldham
Club: Oldham Athletic
Opened: 1904
Capacity: 13,512
Once upon a time Oldham were a founding member of the Premier League in 1992. The Greater Manchester club would appear in two FA Cup semi-finals in the early 90's but would soon drop into the third tier and have had financial struggles ever since.
The post-Taylor Report era meant all stadiums were compulsorily required to be all-seated from the 1994-95 season onward. Boundary Park was now limited to 13,512 seats and was the smallest ground in Premier League history up until 2015.
Boundary Park is also considered one of the coldest grounds in the football league and is also one of the highest above sea level sitting at 526 feet (155m). Uniquely there's also disused terracing visible at the end of the Main Stand which is legacy to the pre-Taylor Report days.
The outside view gives a good indication of just how small the stadium is.
Source: Photo by Mikey shared under Creative Commons (CC) license.
1. Dean Court, Bournemouth
Club: AFC Bournemouth
Opened: 1910
Capacity: 11,364
Founded in 1899, Bournemouth have been playing out of Dean Court since 1910. The club started the 2008-09 season in League Two and were on the brink of bankruptcy. It's almost beyond belief the club rose to the Premier League by 2015 and lasted five seasons in the top flight.
Dean Court to this day remains the smallest Premier League stadium in history with a capacity of 11,700. The ground had capacity of 9,600 back in 2001 when it was completely rebuilt, the pitch rotated 90 degrees to move it away from nearby houses.
In 2005 the stadium was sold with a leaseback agreement in place but the club has been unsuccessful in trying to buy it back. Bournemouth halted plans to expand Dean Court and they've been exploring options to build a new stadium nearby which would take the club away from the place they've called home since 1910.
The capacity is barely bigger than fifth-tier side Wrexham AFC's Racecourse Ground.
Source: Photo by Matthew Jackson shared under Creative Commons (CC) license.
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Wolfgang Sport started in 2017 as a way to connect my passion for American and British sports. Today it's evolved into a blockchain sports blog pushing the boundaries into the crypto world and embracing Web3 technologies.
size of the stadium / size of attendances dont win you games...
true that
Really interesting posts on stadium capacity - I had no idea that Bournemouth had such a small ground. Hopefully they get back up to the Premier league this year, they are on a good run and are up to 2nd in the Championship. I always like to see small clubs like this do well, it is quite amazing when they make it the top division and battle it out with the big boys.
Agree! I love the smaller stadium for Bournemouth especially with the underdog vibes they deliver. They certainly punched above their weight. It's also great when you've got big EPL teams visiting teams in the lower leagues and sometimes the conference where they host them at home in their tiny little "grounds"
I watched some Bournemouth matches. They are now in second place behind Fulham. Without a doubt, we will see them next season in the Premier League next season if they continue at the same level or improve more.
Expected to see Bournemouth being top of the pops with the smallest stadium. Shows how well they did for so long with what they had at their disposal. FA cup runs are that important if you aren't in the Premiership which just shows Bournemouth were printing money by just being in the Premier League. They never had big expenses like other clubs as their stadium would have been paid off years ago.
i remember being in league 2 with bournmouth... we had both been given points deductions for financial problems...
that about 10 years ago.. we've both come a long way...
I'm rotherham fan btw
Jeez, my backyard is bigger than some of these lol!
Bournemouth fans are tightly knitted and seeing they are one of the smallest stadium in capacity wise, you can bet it would be rocking every game. I've grown to like that team.
Really small capacities but that show the size of their fans as well. Should the begin to lift more trophies and supporters increase, expansion will sure set in.